A State Department spokesperson called for enforcement of existing sanctions and coordinated unilateral measures to curb weapons funding after the FBI attributed Binance’s theft of more than $6 billion to North Korea, Yonhap News Agency reported.
The spokesperson’s written reply to Yonhap described joint action against North Korean cyber activity as critical. It said coordinated unilateral sanctions could help disrupt money supporting weapons proliferation.
The FBI said the theft occurred around Oct. 29 and identified the activity as TraderTraitor. In an Oct. 31 alert, the agency urged cryptocurrency services and other private-sector groups to block transactions involving flagged addresses or stemming from them. The FBI said those addresses either held stolen assets or had held them before, and were operated by or closely connected to TraderTraitor actors.
Separately, on Oct. 28, the U.S. Treasury Department sanctioned 10 people and one entity over schemes involving North Korean information technology workers. Treasury said the schemes generated revenue for North Korea’s weapons programs and used cryptocurrency transactions to move funds. It said the workers used false identities, North Korea took most of their wages, and U.S. businesses faced fraud and data risks. Treasury also cited an earlier sanctions action on March 12, 2026.
South Korea’s Foreign Ministry was reviewing possible additional measures, including unilateral cyber sanctions, spokesperson Park Doo-soon said at a Nov. 5 briefing. A Unification Ministry official separately said government discussions about sanctions tied to the Binance theft had not begun, Yonhap reported. Yonhap gave no date for a South Korean decision.
North Korea has rejected the FBI’s attribution, as EconoTimes previously reported.
