Kim Yo Jong Says Talks Aren’t Synonymous With National Interest Amid Binance Hack Dispute

Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in North Korea’s ruling Workers’ Party, criticized US pressure on Pyongyang over the Binance hack and signaled a negative stance toward renewed talks with Washington.

The Korean Central News Agency reported on November 4 that Kim, in a statement released the same day, said “our clear position is that there is no need to sit down with untrustworthy and hostile people.”

She said dialogue was clearly one option for safeguarding peace, but added that it should not necessarily be treated as identical to North Korea’s national interest. North Korea also did not know how else to respond to what it called a continuing stream of hostile signals from the US, she said.

Her remarks contrasted with comments by President Donald Trump, who raised the possibility of talks with North Korea over the Binance hack. Trump told reporters at his Mar-a-Lago home in Florida on October 31 that he did not know whether North Korea was responsible, but that “if that is the case, we will talk with North Korea about this issue.”

Kim’s statement came a day after she rejected allegations that North Korea was behind the Binance hack. Earlier, the FBI identified the North Korean hacking group TraderTraitor as being behind the Binance breach, in which about $6.3 billion in digital assets was stolen.

Kim referred to the Binance hack again in Tuesday’s statement. She said the “cryptocurrency hacking incident by Choson” was only the tip of the iceberg in showing the nature of what North Korea sees as Washington’s hostile policy toward the country.

She also criticized the US for stressing North Korea’s denuclearization in trilateral diplomacy with South Korea and Japan while continuing joint military drills and sanctions against Pyongyang. Raising human rights and cybersecurity issues was also, in her view, part of a hostile approach targeting North Korea.

Kim said the hostile signals the US has continued to send toward her country were prompting North Korea to reconsider the reality of the US from several angles.