No talks yet on sanctions over N. Korea's alleged Binance theft: unification ministry official

According to a unification ministry official, discussions on potential sanctions against North Korea for the alleged theft of over US$6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance have not yet begun. The official stated that the government has not fully comprehended the circumstances of the hacking case, and therefore, a response has not been considered at this stage.

The official emphasized that internal sharing and discussion within the government are necessary before any decisions can be made. Last week, the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) attributed the theft to North Korea. Kim Yo-jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, labeled the accusation as a "grave political provocation" against North Korea.

North Korea has a history of denying involvement in cyber thefts and consistently refutes such claims. Separately, Unification Minister Chung Dong-young has opposed sanctions proposed against North Korea following a land mine blast inside the Demilitarized Zone that injured three South Korean soldiers. Opposition parties have criticized his stance as being too lenient toward Pyongyang, while Chung maintained that such a measure would only provoke the North without yielding any positive outcome.