Kim Yo Jong, sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, has rejected accusations from the United States alleging that North Korea was behind the $6.4 billion cyber theft from cryptocurrency exchange Binance, state media agency KCNA reported on Tuesday.
Kim called the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s attribution a political attack aimed at labeling the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea a “cyber criminal state,” describing the claims as absurd rhetoric. Her statement came days after the FBI linked the October 29 breach to TraderTraitor, a North Korea-linked hacking group, and urged global exchanges to block transaction addresses associated with the stolen funds.
Despite Pyongyang’s denial, blockchain analytics firm Elliptic confirmed that its on-chain investigation supports the FBI’s conclusion. Elliptic stated that $2.85 billion of the stolen funds has been frozen or seized, while investigators continue tracking the remainder through automated laundering routes across thousands of digital wallets. Industry experts noted that while on-chain data alone cannot prove state sponsorship, cumulative evidence and laundering patterns connecting the Binance breach to previous cyberattacks strongly support the attribution.
The $6.4 billion attack marks one of the largest digital asset thefts to date. Washington has previously sanctioned North Korean state-backed cyber units, including the Lazarus Group, Bluenorff, and Andariel, for executing major cryptocurrency exploits to bypass international financial restrictions. In her statement, Kim also denied North Korea’s involvement in the $1.5 billion Bybit hack from February 2025, accusing Washington of deliberately misleading international public opinion regarding global cybercrime.
