‘Absurd rhetoric and nothing new’: Kim Jong Un’s sister Kim Yo Jong reacts to FBI linking North Korea to Binance heist | Today’s news
Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has rejected US allegations that cybercriminals linked to Pyongyang were behind the massive heist of crypto exchange Binance. According to state news agency KCNA, Kim Yo Jong said the US accusations prove that Washington remains hostile to the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Pyongyang did not respond to overtures by US President Donald Trump earlier this year to resume diplomacy at the summit. Following the US accusation, Kim Yo Jong said North Korea had “issues to reconsider” over what she called US hostility.
“FBI Seeks to Designate DPRK as Cyber Criminal State”
“The FBI is trying to label the DPRK as a ‘cyber criminal state’ and claims to have received information that a hacking organization ‘backed’ by the DPRK was involved in the incident,” KCNA quoted Kim Yo Jong as saying.
“But the US claim is absurd rhetoric and nothing new,” said Kim, a ruling party official.
“It is a serious political provocation against the DPRK that the US is deceiving international public opinion as if all cyber crimes in different parts of the world are our doings.”
What did the FBI say
The FBI said on Saturday that North Korea is responsible for stealing more than $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance. Malicious actors from North Korea have been observed laundering stolen assets by converting them to Ethereum, the FBI said, adding that it expects “further phases of laundering” of the stolen digital assets.
How a job interview cost Binance $6 billion
According to Binance’s initial assessment, the hackers gained access to the crypto exchange’s systems through an engineer who was contacted by a person posing as a “project director” on the job search platform.
After the initial round of HR, the Binance engineer, using his work laptop, had his second interview with the prospective CEO of the company. During the interview, the Binance employee was asked to download an “assignment” as part of the job recruitment process. Investigators believe the “assignment” contained malicious code that allowed the hackers to mount an attack that led to the theft of more than $6 billion worth of cryptocurrency.
North Korea’s Connection to Cryptocurrency Theft
This is not the first time North Korea has come under the scanner for high-profile thefts of cryptocurrencies, which analysts say are a key source of funding for its weapons programs.
According to estimates from blockchain analytics firm Elliptic, North Korea has stolen $7.6 billion worth of cryptocurrency this year alone.
Analyst firm Chainalysis estimates that 89% of crypto hack losses in 2026 were linked to North Korea, up from 15% in 2021. It said the average reported loss per hack increased from $50.65 million in 2021 to $185.65 million in 2026.
