North Korea Slams US For Sony Attack Sanctions

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North Korea has criticised the United States for imposing fresh sanctions on its government officials in retaliation for an alleged cyber attack on Sony Pictures.

US President Barack Obama last week authorised a new layer of sanctions on several Pyongyang institutions and officials in response to the hacking attack against the Hollywood movie studio responsible for a film depicting the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

US investigators have said North Korea was behind the attack in November, which involved the breach of tens of thousands of confidential Sony emails and business files.

But North Korea denies any role in the cyber attack. It has expressed fury over the comedy The Interview and called the hacking of Sony a "righteous deed".

In response to the new sanctions, an unnamed spokesman for North Korea's Foreign Ministry accused the US of "groundlessly" stirring up hostility toward Pyongyang.

The spokesman said the new sanctions would not weaken the country's 1.2-million-strong military.

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He told North Korea's official media mouthpiece, the Korean Central News Agency, that the sanctions show America's "inveterate repugnancy and hostility toward the DPRK," referring to North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"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.

President Barack Obama has also warned Pyongyang that the US is considering putting North Korea back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism, which could jeopardise aid to the country on a global scale.

American officials portrayed the sanctions as a swift, decisive response to North Korean behaviour that they said had gone far over the line.

It is the first time that the US has imposed sanctions on another nation in direct retaliation for a cyber attack on an American company.

But there have been doubts in the cyber community about the extent of North Korea's involvement.

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.

Sony initially decided to call off the film's release after cinemas decided not to show the film but following criticism from President Obama the movie was released in limited cinemas and online.

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