North Korea fired several missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Wednesday, hours after Kim Yo Jong ruled out talks with Washington and denied US accusations that Pyongyang was behind the $6.3 billion Binance hack.
MoneyTurkey Politics Desk | 4 November 2026
Key points
- South Korea’s military detected several missiles fired from the Sondok area on North Korea’s east coast on Wednesday morning, the fourth such launch in a month, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said, according to Reuters.
- Kim Yo Jong, the leader’s sister, said there was no need to meet US officials while Washington kept what she called its hostile policy, and repeated Pyongyang’s denial of the FBI’s Binance accusation, Reuters and AP reported.
- The launch followed state-media reports of a cluster-warhead test on Saturday and a “dispersal warhead” test for a strategic cruise missile on Monday, Yonhap reported.
What happened
Seoul and Washington were closely analysing the launch and remained ready to respond to any provocation, the Defence Ministry said. South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the allies tracked the missiles from the preparation stage through launch, CNA reported. Seoul has not said how many missiles were fired or confirmed what type they were.
Japan’s Defence Ministry did not issue its usual public alert, which suggests the weapons were shorter-range and posed no threat to Japanese territory, The Japan Times reported. Japan said the projectiles landed outside its exclusive economic zone, Latin Times reported.
The week opened with a cluster-bomb test for tactical ballistic missiles on Saturday. On Tuesday, state news agency KCNA said the Missile Administration had tested a medium-sized dispersal warhead on a strategic cruise missile that it said could destroy a target area of 5 to 6 hectares. North Korea has said it will field various cluster warheads by the end of the year, Yonhap reported. On Oct. 29 it fired around a dozen short-range ballistic missiles, according to The Japan Times.
The Binance link
The diplomatic message matters more than the launches. Kim Yo Jong tied her refusal to talk directly to the FBI’s allegation that North Korean hackers stole $6.3 billion from Binance, the largest crypto exchange. She denied the charge and called it part of Washington’s “invariable hostile policy”, Latin Times reported, while leaving open dialogue only if the US drops policies Pyongyang sees as threatening.
That puts a crypto-market story at the centre of a security standoff. Binance said this week it had refilled most of the hacked assets, but any US move to trace, freeze or sanction the stolen funds now carries a diplomatic cost on the Korean peninsula.
What is at stake for markets
The timing hurts President Trump’s hopes of meeting Kim Jong Un at the APEC summit in Shenzhen on Nov. 18–19, Latin Times reported. Trump said in August he expected a meeting before year-end.
Short-range tests have rarely moved Korean assets for long, but this cycle is broader. Tensions have risen since a landmine blast on the border wounded three South Korean soldiers, CNA reported. Lee Choon-geun, a missile expert at KAIST, told Reuters the pace of tests suggests the North may be nearing mass production, possibly for export to Russia. Repeated launches alongside a freeze on talks keep a risk premium on the Korean won and Seoul-listed defence stocks, and add another headline risk for crypto as the Binance case unfolds.
What to watch
- Seoul and Washington’s findings on the type and range of Wednesday’s missiles
- Any US Treasury or Justice Department action on the stolen Binance funds
- Whether a Trump–Kim meeting stays on the table before APEC in Shenzhen, Nov. 18–19
- Further cluster-warhead tests; Pyongyang has promised deployment by year-end
Related on MoneyTurkey
- Binance Says It Has Refilled 98% of Hacked Assets as Bitcoin Retakes $80,000
- Erdoğan Seoul Trip Sets $15 Billion Trade Target
For information only. Not investment advice.
Sources
- Reuters via NBC News (Nov. 4, 2026): North Korea fires multiple missiles in fourth weapons launch in a month, Seoul says
- AP (Nov. 4, 2026): North Korea launches missiles toward the sea as Pyongyang protests against US claims on Binance hack
- Yonhap (Nov. 3, 2026): N. Korea tests ‘dispersal warhead’ for cruise missiles following cluster bomb test
- The Japan Times (Nov. 4, 2026): North Korea fires off ‘several’ missiles in latest weapons test
- CNA (Nov. 4, 2026): North Korea fires several missiles into Sea of Japan
- Latin Times (Nov. 4, 2026): North Korea Fires Missiles and Kim Yo Jong Slams the Door on Any Trump-Kim APEC Talks
