North Korea has formally rejected claims connecting the state to the record-breaking $6.3 billion (£4.7bn) cryptocurrency exchange hack affecting Binance, denouncing the accusations as absurd rhetoric.
Kim Yo Jong, a prominent senior Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) official and sister to leader Kim Jong Un, issued a statement condemning the allegations as another sinister attempt by the United States to tarnish Pyongyang’s international standing.
The breach, widely characterized as the largest cryptocurrency heist in history, has drawn intense scrutiny from Western security agencies. The US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Secret Service, and independent cyber analysts have publicly stated that North Korea orchestrated the attack. Blockchain investigators and federal authorities specifically linked the offensive to TraderTraitor, a state-backed hacking collective frequently identified under the moniker Lazarus Group. In response, the FBI has urged industry partners to block transactions involving digital wallets associated with the group.
Pyongyang hits back at US provocations
Addressing the international claims, Kim Yo Jong, director of North Korea’s General Affairs Department, issued a sharp rebuttal:
“The US has made a trite provocation of linking it with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea again. It is a grave political provocation against the DPRK that the US misleads the international public opinion as if all the cyber crimes in different parts of the world are our deeds.”
Pyongyang has consistently denied responsibility for a string of major cyber attacks attributed to its operatives in recent years. Security think tanks, including the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, have previously reported that North Korea systematically builds its elite cyber warfare units by recruiting promising university students and embedding them in intelligence-backed hacker cells.
Notably, the Lazarus Group was previously blamed for orchestrating a then-record $1.5 billion hack targeting crypto exchange Bybit in 2025. Stressing official state policy, Kim Yo Jong reiterated that the DPRK government resolutely opposes malicious cyberspace activities.
Binance operational updates and fund recovery
As diplomatic tensions flare, Binance has focused its public communications on technical remediation and user protection. Initial internal investigations suggest that an engineer’s laptop was compromised during the incident, enabling unauthorized actors to execute massive fund withdrawals. Following swift coordination with asset issuers to freeze compromised accounts, trading in major cryptocurrencies resumed.
Data published by Binance indicated that net withdrawals reached $5.27 billion after trading recommenced, though transaction volumes have since stabilized. Reassuring the digital asset community, company executives reiterated that Binance has already covered approximately 95 percent of the stolen funds and remains fully committed to absorbing all remaining losses linked to the breach.
