Pyongyang Denies Binance Hack: Kim Yo-jong Calls US Blame Absurd

Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, called it "absurd rhetoric" on Tuesday when she denied her country's role in the $6.3 billion hack of cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The statement marks the latest official response to claims that Pyongyang orchestrated the largest cryptocurrency theft in history.

The US Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Secret Service have identified a state-backed hacking group named TraderTraitor as the mastermind behind the attack. Cyber analysts support this view, noting that the group, also known as the Lazarus Group, is responsible for previous major breaches. The FBI has asked industry partners to help block transactions tied to cryptocurrency accounts associated with this unit.

Kim Yo-jong, who serves as the director of North Korea's General Affairs Department, framed the US accusations as a "sinister attempt" to damage the country's public image. She stated that the US is misleading the international public into believing that all global cyber crimes are the doing of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. She described the linkage to North Korea as a "grave political provocation."

Binance, the target of the breach, has focused its public messaging on the technical details of the incident. The company reported that an engineer's laptop was compromised, which allowed an attacker to make unauthorized withdrawals. After suspending all transactions to secure the platform, Binance reopened trading. On Sunday, the exchange reported that customers withdrew more than $3.6 billion in assets during the reopening period.

The hack has raised questions about North Korea's reliance on cybercrime to fund its sanctioned economy. Research groups, including the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, note that the country has systematically built these operations by recruiting promising students from universities and placing them in hacker units overseen by the intelligence agency. Pyongyang has consistently denied such recruitment practices and the specific attacks themselves.

Binance has stated it will cover all losses linked to the attack. The company reported that it has so far recovered and covered approximately 95% of the stolen assets. Trading in major cryptocurrencies on the platform has resumed following efforts by the exchange to work with issuers to freeze the impacted assets.

The TraderTraitor group was previously blamed for a record $1.5 billion hack of crypto exchange Bybit in 2025. That earlier incident also drew accusations from US officials, which North Korea denied. Kim Yo-jong reaffirmed the government's position that it resolutely opposes all malicious acts in cyberspace, maintaining that the current allegations follow a consistent pattern of US provocation.