North Korea yesterday criticized the US for imposing additional sanctions against Pyongyang over its alleged role in a cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment that disrupted the release of a Hollywood movie depicting the assassination of North Korea’s leader.
In rhetoric that closely mirrors past statements from Pyongyang, an unnamed spokesman for the North Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs denied any role in the reported breach of tens of thousands of confidential Sony e-mails and business files, while accusing Washington of “groundlessly” stirring up hostility toward Pyongyang.
The spokesman said the new sanctions against Pyongyang officials and organizations would not weaken the country’s 1.2 million-member military.
The spokesman told the official Korean Central News Agency that the sanctions show Washington’s “inveterate repugnancy and hostility toward the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea [DPRK].”
“The policy persistently pursued by the US to stifle the DPRK, groundlessly stirring up bad blood toward it, would only harden its will and resolution to defend the sovereignty of the country,” the spokesman said.
The US on Friday sanctioned 10 North Korean government officials and three organizations, including Pyongyang’s primary intelligence agency and state-run arms dealer, in what the White House described as an opening move in its response to the Sony cyberattack.
The sanctions might have a limited effect, as North Korea is already under tough US and international sanctions over its nuclear and missile programs.
US President Barack Obama said that his administration is also considering putting North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, which could jeopardize aid to the nation on a global scale.
US officials portrayed the sanctions as a swift, decisive response to North Korean behavior that they said had gone far over the line.
Never before has Washington imposed sanctions on another nation in direct retaliation for an alleged cyberattack on a US-based company.
However, there have been doubts in the computer security community about the extent of North Korea’s involvement in the security breach. Many experts have said it is possible that hackers — or even Sony insiders — could be the culprits and questioned how the FBI can point the finger so conclusively at Pyongyang.
The 10 North Koreans singled out for sanctions did not necessarily have anything to do with the attack on Sony, senior US officials said. Anyone who works for or helps North Korea’s government is now fair game for punitive sanctions, especially the country’s defense sector and spying operations, they added.
North Korea has expressed fury over The Interview, the Sony Pictures comedy about killing North Korean leader Kim Jong-un that it sees as an anti-Pyongyang film. It has denied hacking the company, but called the act a “righteous deed.”
Sony initially decided to call off the film’s release after movie theaters decided not to show the film over security converns. After Obama criticized that decision, Sony released the movie in limited theaters and online.
Questions remain about who was behind a nearly 10-hour recent shutdown of North Korean Web sites. The US has not claimed responsibility, but North Korea’s powerful National Defense Commission blamed it anyway and hurled racial slurs at Obama, comparing him to a reckless “monkey in a tropical forest.”
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