In brief
Kim Yo Jong, a senior North Korean official, accused the United States of defamation after the FBI linked a $6.3 billion Binance theft to a North Korean hacking unit. She dismissed the claim as political propaganda and vowed to monitor U.S. hostility. The basis of the FBI’s attribution remains undisclosed, leaving the dispute unresolved.
A senior North Korean official has dismissed United States claims that her country was involved in a $6.3 billion theft from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, labeling the allegations as defamation and a violation of North Korean sovereignty. The statement was carried by the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) on Tuesday, November 3, 2026.
Kim Yo Jong, a department director in the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea and sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong‑Un, issued the remarks via KCNA on the same day. She specifically criticized the United States for attempting to label the North Korean state a “cyber criminal state” and for allegedly “spreading misunderstanding” about Pyongyang in the international community.
The United States Federal Bureau of Investigation had said on Saturday that a state‑backed hacking unit known as TraderTraitor, which it attributes to North Korea, was responsible for the crime. The FBI’s findings were announced after the exchange announced on Friday that hackers had stolen more than $6 billion in virtual assets, an amount the exchange estimated at $6.3 billion.
Binance has said it will cover the losses using company funds and its user protection fund. It also reported that it had replenished 90 percent of the stolen assets and was purchasing the remaining tokens, promising that customers would not bear the financial impact.
Kim Yo Jong called the accusations a “grave political provocation.”
It is a grave political provocation against the DPRK that the U.S. misleads the international public opinion as if all the cyber crimes in different parts of the world are our deeds.
She added that the United States was “attempting to spread misunderstanding of the DPRK in the international community, blindly linking the DPRK with the ‘cyber crime’ incidents whenever they occur on an international scale.” The statement warned that the DPRK would monitor and reconsider the U.S.’s persistent provocations.
Other sources, including United Nations panels, have long linked cryptocurrency thefts and other illicit cyber activity to funding for North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles. For example, in February 2025, North Korean‑linked hackers stole roughly $1.5 billion from the Bybit exchange, and a 2024 report estimated that illicit cyber activity accounted for about 40 percent of the DPRK’s weapons‑of‑mass‑destruction programs.
Since the U.S. FBI’s attribution, the precise forensic evidence connecting the TraderTraitor hacking unit to the Binance theft has not been made public. Consequently, the claim remains disputed, with no formal charges filed against the alleged North Korean actors.
Financial analysts note that Binance’s claim of replenishing the majority of the stolen assets suggests a partial recovery for users, though the long‑term impact on market stability is still being assessed.
Other countries have remained cautious about the situation, with no clear international consensus on the legitimacy of the FBI’s attribution. The United Nations Special Report on illicit cyber activity continues to emphasize the difficulty of establishing definitive links between state actors and cyber theft.
In the days following the announcement, the DPRK official’s statement received attention in state‑controlled media across the region, with the government reaffirming that it would not tolerate external attempts to tarnish its image.
While the statement by Kim Yo Jong has intensified tensions between North Korea and the United States, the forensic details behind the FBI’s attribution remain undisclosed. The actual technical evidence connecting the hacking unit TraderTraitor to the Binance theft has not been publicly released. No formal indictments have been issued. Consequently, the dispute over responsibility for the $6.3 billion theft remains unresolved, with both sides maintaining their respective positions based on unverified claims and allegations.
