Kim Yo Jong rejected the FBI’s claim that North Korea was behind Binance’s estimated $6.3 billion crypto theft, adding a political dispute as the exchange phased withdrawals back in.
Kim, department director of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and sister of leader Kim Jong Un, called the U.S. attribution “a grave political provocation against the DPRK.” The Korean Central News Agency carried her statement Tuesday, Nov. 3, and said she issued it Monday, Nov. 2.
The FBI said Saturday, Oct. 31, that North Korea was responsible for stealing more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance around Thursday, Oct. 29. The bureau called the activity “TraderTraitor,” said stolen funds had moved mainly into Ether (ETH) and expected further laundering through decentralized finance and instant-swap services.
Binance’s Oct. 30 update placed the hot-wallet breach at 4:05 p.m. ET (20:05 UTC) Thursday, Oct. 29, and put the affected tokens’ value at about $6.3 billion. The exchange said it would absorb the loss using its Secure Asset Fund for Users and corporate treasury.
Kim’s statement invoked U.S. accusations concerning the previous year’s Bybit hack. She also pointed to Washington’s plan to use confiscated cryptocurrency in a strategic reserve and argued that the destination of recovered funds could help identify who carried out the Binance theft. She offered no evidence for that suggestion and said Pyongyang had “issues to reconsider” over the U.S. position.
Binance had set the next withdrawal reopening for 11 p.m. ET Monday, Nov. 2 (04:00 UTC Tuesday, Nov. 3), with more asset and network combinations due to return after security reviews. The exchange said deposits remained open. Its notice described a gradual rollout but gave no date for completing it.
