‘Absurd rhetoric and nothing new’: Kim Jong Un's sister Kim Yo Jong responds to FBI linking North Korea to Binance heist
North Korea’s Kim Yo Jong denied US claims that Pyongyang-backed hackers were behind a $6 billion Binance cryptocurrency theft. The FBI has attributed the heist to North Korea. Investigators suspect hackers used a fake recruitment process to compromise a Binance engineer.
Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has dismissed US allegations that North Korean cyber criminals were responsible for the massive Binance crypto heist. In a statement from the state news agency KCNA, Kim Yo Jong called the allegations "absurd rhetoric and nothing new," stating that they are a "grave political provocation against the DPRK."
She added that the US is attempting to label North Korea as a "cyber criminal state" based on information alleging that a hacking organization supported by the DPRK was involved in the incident. Kim Yo Jong noted that North Korea has not responded to US President Donald Trump's overtures to resume summit diplomacy. The FBI attributed the theft of over $6 billion in virtual assets from Binance to North Korean actors, who laundered the stolen assets into Ethereum.
This is not the first time North Korea has been linked to high-profile cryptocurrency thefts, which analysts say funds its weapons programs.
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- North Korea says US allegations linking it to Binance heist are ‘absurd rhetoric’, KCNA says businesstimes.com.sg
- North Korea's crypto heists threaten global security koreatimes.co.kr
- North Korea’s latest provocations look familiar, but the dynamics have changed: Analysts channelnewsasia.com
