South Korea Says No Talks on Additional North Korea Sanctions Over Binance Hack

South Korea's government said there have been no discussions yet on additional sanctions against North Korea in connection with the Binance hack, for which Pyongyang has been identified as the suspected culprit.

A Unification Ministry official told reporters at the Government Complex Seoul on Nov. 5 that the government does not yet have an accurate understanding of the Binance hacking case. Discussions have not even begun on how the government would respond, the official said when asked about possible additional sanctions against North Korea tied to the incident.

Asked about reports that evidence linking North Korea to the Binance hack had been made public, the official said media reports and the government's response were "on a different level." The official added that information-sharing and internal discussions within the government would be needed first, but the matter had not reached that stage.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said late last month that TraderTraitor, a hacking group linked to North Korea's Reconnaissance General Bureau, was behind the theft of $6.3 billion in cryptocurrency from Binance.

North Korea denied the allegation, however, in a statement issued on Nov. 3 under the name of Kim Yo Jong, vice department director of the Workers' Party, calling the FBI's announcement "an absurd rumor."