The key facts

  • Kim Yo Jong stated there is no need for dialogue with 'unreliable and hostile' United States
  • The FBI linked the $6.34 billion Binance hack to the TraderTraitor group associated with the DPRK
  • Binance reported freezing about $2.85 billion of the stolen funds

Pyongyang cools expectations for dialogue

The sister of the North Korean leader, Kim Yo Jong, stated that the DPRK has 'no need to sit face to face with such unreliable and hostile people' who, in her words, talk about dialogue while refusing to abandon their policy of confrontation. Her remarks were carried by the KCNA news agency, as cited by AFP. The comment came amid speculation about a possible meeting between Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump this month and, according to AFP, reduces the chances of such contact.

The Binance hack as a pretext for accusations

The statement followed the FBI's attribution on Saturday of responsibility to the DPRK for the theft of more than $6 billion from the cryptocurrency exchange Binance, linking the attack to the hacker group TraderTraitor. Kim Yo Jong had earlier called these accusations 'a serious political provocation,' and now stated that Pyongyang views the incident not as an isolated act but as 'a continuation of Washington's unchanged hostile policy.' According to the exchange itself, the October 29 attack lasted about four hours: the perpetrators used fake job interviews and malicious code. Experts consider it the largest cryptocurrency theft in history; Binance reported freezing approximately $2.85 billion of the stolen $6.34 billion.

'A new level of countermeasures' and Trump's position

Kim Yo Jong listed among the manifestations of hostile policy the accusations in the Binance case, US–South Korean military exercises, and demands for denuclearization, adding that if the US sets 'new records' of pressure, the DPRK will respond with 'new records' of counteraction. She did not specify concrete measures. Lim Eul Chul, a professor at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies of Kyungnam University, assessed the statement as a shift 'from defense to offense' and a lowering of the priority of dialogue. Trump himself reacted more cautiously: 'We're learning about it. I'm not concerned... We don't know whether it's the DPRK or not, but if so, we'll talk to the DPRK about it,' he told reporters.