Kim Yo Jong rejects US talks after FBI blames North Korea for Binance hack
Kim Jong Un's sister says Pyongyang has "no need" for dialogue with Washington and denies stealing more than US$6 billion in crypto.
North Korea has rejected further talks with the United States, days after the FBI accused it of stealing more than US$6 billion in cryptocurrency from the Binance exchange, The Straits Times, CNA and the South China Morning Post reported.
The statement came from Kim Yo Jong, sister of leader Kim Jong Un, and was published by state news agency KCNA on Wednesday. "It is our clear stand that we have no need to sit face to face with such unreliable and hostile persons who refuse to abandon their policy of confrontation while talking about dialogue," she said, according to CNA.
The FBI said on Oct 31 that a North Korea-affiliated hacking group called TraderTraitor was behind the attack. The BBC reported that the US Secret Service and cyber analysts have also blamed Pyongyang, and that TraderTraitor, also known as the Lazarus Group, was blamed for a US$1.5 billion hack of the Bybit exchange in 2025. North Korea denies involvement. In an earlier statement on Tuesday, Kim Yo Jong called the claims "absurd rhetoric", the BBC said.
Her latest remarks also criticised US-South Korean military drills, American demands for denuclearisation and a US State Department report on human trafficking that includes North Korea, The Straits Times reported. The South China Morning Post said Washington had also launched a new round of sanctions aimed at Pyongyang.
The Straits Times reported that Donald Trump said in August he wanted to meet Kim Jong Un later in 2026, and that Pyongyang had not responded. There has been speculation about a summit later this month. Asked about the hack, Trump told reporters: "We don't know if it's North Korea but if it is we'll talk to North Korea about it," CNA reported.
Analysts told the South China Morning Post the developments had all but killed off the chances of another Trump-Kim summit. A senior South Korean official said Seoul sees little chance of one for now, according to The Straits Times. Lim Eul-chul, a professor at Kyungnam University, told AFP the statement lowered the "priority of dialogue while putting pressure on the United States", CNA reported.
CNA put the theft at US$6.34 billion, taken over about four hours on Oct 29, with around US$2.85 billion frozen. Binance released an investigation on Tuesday showing the attackers used fake job interviews and malicious code. A spokesperson told the BBC that a net US$4.72 billion had been withdrawn since transactions resumed on Sunday, and the company said it has covered around 95 per cent of the stolen assets.
Kim Yo Jong also warned of a response. "It is natural that new records should be created in our reflective counteraction," she said. She did not specify what countermeasures Pyongyang might take, CNA reported.
Sources: The Straits Times, North Korea denies Binance accusation, refuses dialogue with Washington; CNA, North Korea signals little appetite for renewed US dialogue; South China Morning Post, Why North Korea’s Kim sees no need for another Trump ‘photo-op summit’; BBC News, North Korea denies being behind record $6.3bn Binance hack.
