North Korea Denies Direct Role in Hacking Sony Pictures

North Korea Denies Direct Role in Hacking Sony Pictures

But Pyongyang Says Attack May Have Been Carried Out by Sympathizers

By Alastair Gale in the Wall Street Journal

SEOUL—North Korea on Sunday denied a direct role in the recent hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment, but said the attack may have been the work of its sympathizers.

In a statement attributed to an unnamed spokesman for North Korea’s National Defense Commission, a top policy-making body, the state news agency said South Korea had spread a “false rumor” that North Korea was involved in the hacking attack.

“We do not know where in America the Sony Pictures is situated and for what wrongdoings it became the target of the attack nor we feel the need to know about it,” the statement said.

However, it said the attack may have been “a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers with the DPRK in response to its appeal.” DPRK is the abbreviation for North Korea’s formal name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

North Korea has been identified as one suspect in the hacking attack, which has crippled the company’s computer systems, because of its fierce opposition to a coming Sony Pictures movie, “The Interview.” The film centers on a fictitious assassination plot against North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea has sent a letter of complaint about the film to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and made unspecified threats of retaliation against the U.S. in its state media. North Korea treats its leaders as quasi-deities. Any perceived insult toward them is treated as a capital crime within the country.

Cybersecurity experts have noted similarities between the Sony attack and hacks against South Korea last year that were attributed to North Korea. Pyongyang denies any involvement in those attacks.

South Korea believes a few thousand hackers operate on behalf of North Korea, with some based in China. Elite students are trained in hacking techniques at schools in Pyongyang, according to defectors.

“The Interview” is scheduled for release in the U.S. on Dec. 25.

Poster’s comments:

1)      Things like this can happen, I believe.

2)      In this case, I do not know what to believe. Nor do I want to take the time to learn more.

3)      I have lived in Oahu, Hawaii, and my house was over flown (I believe) by the Japanese during their attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. I was born in 1948 so I really don’t know for sure. For sure the Japanese bombed within miles of my house, and actually on both sides.

4)      The first girl I remember kissing was in a bomb shelter in Southern California, so that was a hint to me how people thought in that area during that time. By 1988, the bomb shelter was gone.

5)      Even in 1956, I once a month practiced bomb drills “just in case”. As a kid it was kind of fun getting under tables and covering my neck and head area with my hands while all the neighborhood dogs howled from the air raid sirens blowing loudly.

6)      I assume Sony Pictures Entertainment is the company based in Southern California, USA.