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On the heels of Obama's pointed comments, Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Michael Lynton gave his first television interview to CNN, saying "We have not caved. We have not given in." VPC
A billboard for the film "The Interview" is displayed Dec. 19 in Venice, Calif.(Photo: Christopher Polk, Getty Images)
Calling the U.S. an "ill-famed cesspool of injustice," North Korea accused the Obama administration Sunday of being behind the making of Sony's The Interview and threatened it was already taking "counteraction."
In a lengthy, rambling statement carried on the state-run Korean Central News Agency, the reclusive nation charged the U.S. government "conceived and produced" the film out of the belief that such movies hurt the dignity of North Korea.
The statement, attributed to the Policy Department of the National Defense Commission of North Korea, said U.S. government officials "went the lengths of urging the movie makers to keep all scenes insulting the dignity of the (North Korean) supreme leadership in the movie, saying it is needed to 'vex the North Korean government.'"
The Interview, the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy, has been the apparent catalyst for the Sony hacking, which resulted in the massive release of that company's internal e-mails and documents. Almost 38 million files were stolen.
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In the movie, the comedians play TV journalists commissioned to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The FBI concluded last week that North Korea was behind the attack, and Obama announced Friday the U.S. would respond "proportionally" to the hackings.
"I don't think it was an act of war," Obama said in a taped interview on CNN's State of the Union, which aired Sunday. "I think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously."
Sony's pulling of the film undermined the principle of free speech, Obama said.
"We believe in the right of artistic expression and things that powers that be might not like," Obama said.
On Sunday, North Korea continued to deny it was behind the cyberattack, saying it did not know who the perpetrators are nor where they're from. However, it did praise those responsible, saying "we can surely say they are supporters and sympathizers," of North Korea.
North Korea also spoke out against Obama's Friday statement, calling his declaration a "disgraceful behavior" and saying North Korea has "already launched the toughest counteraction."
"Nothing is more serious miscalculation than guessing that just a single movie production company is the target of this counteraction. Our target is all the citadels of the U.S. imperialists who earned the bitterest grudge of all Koreans," the statement says.
"The army and people of the (North Korea) are fully ready to stand in confrontation with the U.S. in all war spaces including cyber warfare space to blow up those citadels. Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole U.S. mainland, the cesspool of terrorism, by far surpassing the 'symmetric counteraction' declared by Obama."
USA TODAY
Timeline: North Korea and the Sony Pictures hack
Obama, however, said Sunday the United States is not at cyberwar with North Korea.
"I don't think it was an act of war," Obama said on CNN's State of the Union. "I think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously. We will respond proportionately."
USA TODAY
Obama: We're not at cyberwar with North Korea
The cyberattack situation escalated early last week when the hackers posted a message threatening 9/11-type attacks on theaters screening The Interview, leading several major movie theater companies announcing they would no longer screen the film.
Sony pulled The Interview's Dec. 25 nationwide release on Dec. 17, a decision that Obama disparaged in the news conference Friday, saying, "I wish they had spoken to me first. ... I would have told them do not get into a pattern in which you're intimidated by these kinds of criminal attacks."
North Korea charged Sunday the movie "is an undesirable and reactionary one justifying and inciting terrorism which should not be allowed in any country and any region." It also said it considered Sony's pulling of the movie "fortunate."
USA TODAY
Obama: Sony 'did the wrong thing' when it pulled movie
Sunday's statement by North Korea came on the heels of one Saturday in which the nation proposed a joint investigation and promised "grave consequences" if the U.S. did not agree to one.
"The U.S. should bear in mind that it will face serious consequences in case it rejects our proposal for joint investigation and presses for what it called countermeasures while finding fault" with North Korea.
USA TODAY
North Korea orders joint probe into Sony hacking
The White House has continued to stand behind the FBI's conclusion North Korea is responsible for the attack.
"The government of North Korea has a long history of denying responsibility for destructive and provocative actions," White House National Security Council spokesman Mark Stroh said Saturday.
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