South Korea’s Unification Ministry Cautious on FBI Claim North Korea Was Behind Binance Hack

South Korea’s Unification Ministry said it will decide how to respond to allegations that North Korea was involved in the Binance hack only after establishing the facts.

Yonhap News reported on November 3 that a ministry official told reporters at the government complex in Seoul that the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation’s assessment had not been shared among relevant South Korean agencies. The remark came after the FBI identified North Korea as being behind the Binance hack.

The official also declined to give a detailed position on whether Seoul could join additional sanctions on North Korea. The ministry must first verify the circumstances of the case and review any necessary measures in consultation with relevant ministries. At this stage, discussing sanctions would not be appropriate, the official said.

Earlier, the FBI said on October 29 that North Korea was involved in the theft of about $6.3 billion in digital assets from Binance. North Korea strongly rejected that claim on November 3 in a statement issued under the name of Kim Yo Jong, a vice department director of the ruling Workers’ Party.

Kim described the accusation that North Korea was behind the hacking as a "grave political provocation." She also took issue with the U.S. stance toward North Korea and warned that future relations could be reconsidered on multiple fronts.

It was the first time Kim had personally issued an official response to allegations over North Korea’s cyber activities. The statement, however, did not spell out any specific retaliatory measures or response plans.

The Unification Ministry is also monitoring how the statement could affect future dialogue between North Korea and the United States, Yonhap said. The statement may have been intended both to prevent the hacking allegations from escalating into a broader diplomatic dispute and to press Washington to change what Pyongyang regards as a hostile policy toward North Korea.