North Korea Fires Missiles After U.S. Binance Hack Claim

South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff detected multiple launches from North Korea into waters off the country’s east coast. South Korean and U.S. authorities were examining the missiles’ types and flight paths. South Korea’s military remained ready to respond to any provocation.

The launches came hours after Kim Yo Jong, the sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and a senior official, rejected the possibility of renewed talks with Washington. She described an FBI accusation linking North Korean hackers to the Binance theft as part of what she called the United States’ hostile policy toward North Korea.

“It is our clear stand that we have no need to sit face to face with such unreliable and hostile persons,” Kim said. “The choice for peace includes dialogue of course, but this is not surely equated with national interests for us.”

Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, reported on Friday that hackers had stolen more than $6 billion. The FBI later attributed the theft to TraderTraitor, a hacking group it linked to North Korea. The group was also blamed for stealing $1.5 billion from the Bybit exchange last year.

North Korea has denied responsibility for the Binance attack and called the FBI’s statement a “trite provocation.” Pyongyang has rejected similar U.S. accusations, including claims that North Korean cyber groups have helped finance the country’s weapons programs through cryptocurrency theft.

North Korea has increased its weapons tests in recent months. The tests followed President Donald Trump’s statement that he wanted to restore diplomacy with Kim Jong Un.

North Korean state media released photographs on Wednesday showing parts of a warship under construction at the Nampho Shipyard. The report described the vessel as much larger than North Korea’s 5,000-ton destroyers and said Kim had expressed satisfaction with it. Kim has previously announced plans to build a 10,000-ton strategic guided-missile cruiser.

Relations between North and South Korea have worsened since mine explosions near the border in September injured three South Korean soldiers. Seoul accused North Korea of placing the mines south of the border and demanded an apology. Pyongyang denied responsibility and warned that it would retaliate if provoked. North Korea later threatened to resume propaganda broadcasts by loudspeaker and deploy new weapons systems near the border.