North Korea calls $6bn Binance theft claim a 'tip of the iceberg' of US hostility
North Korea has dismissed the FBI's finding that it was behind the theft of more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, with Kim Yo-jong calling the accusation a "tip of iceberg" of Washington's hostile policy and warning that Pyongyang will set "new records" in counteraction.
Kim, the sister of leader Kim Jong-un, said in a statement carried by the North's official Korean Central News Agency that dialogue with the United States remained an option for peace but was not a necessity for the North's national interest. She said Washington's continued "hostile signal" was forcing Pyongyang to reconsider the "true nature" of the US.
"The choice for peace includes dialogue of course, but this is not surely equated with national interests for us," she said. She added that the US abandoning its hostile policy was "a major premise and key to solving all problems", and that North Korea saw no reason to sit down with "such unreliable and hostile persons who refuse to abandon their policy of confrontation".
The remarks followed her rejection a day earlier of the FBI's conclusion that the regime was responsible for the theft of more than $6 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance, the world's largest cryptocurrency exchange. She had called the accusation a "grave political provocation" against the North.
Kim also cited a recent trilateral meeting of the top diplomats of South Korea, the US and Japan, which reaffirmed their commitment to the complete denuclearisation of North Korea, and joint military drills as further examples of US hostility. She warned that "new records should be created in our reflective counteraction" but did not specify what those counteractions would be.
What it means for Pakistan: For Pakistani users of Binance and other offshore exchanges, the dispute is a reminder that attribution of a major theft can become a geopolitical argument rather than a settled legal finding. Pakistan's virtual asset framework, administered by PVARA, places custody and exchange licensing under domestic supervision, but funds held on global platforms sit outside it, so recovery after an incident of this size would depend on foreign authorities and the platforms themselves. The case also underlines why the Financial Monitoring Unit and SECP treat exchange-linked flows as a compliance priority.
