North Korea Attacks U.S. Arms Sanctions Imposed After Sony Hack Pyongyang Says Washington Lacks Evidence and Claims Sanctions Don’t Work Against North Korea A magazine with cartoons of U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a book store in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015. ENLARGE A magazine with cartoons of U.S. President Barack Obama, left, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at a book store in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday, Jan. 3, 2015. ASSOCIATED PRESS By JEYUP S. KWAAK Jan. 4, 2015 2:11 a.m. ET 60 COMMENTS SEOUL—North Korea on Sunday slammed new sanctions imposed on it by the U.S. and accused Washington of acting with little evidence that links Pyongyang with the recent hacking attack on Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc. In its first response to the White House’s Friday announcement of sanctions on North Korea’s arms industry, the isolated state said the action exposed U.S. hostility, and claimed sanctions against North Korea were ineffective. “The persistent and unilateral action taken by the White House to slap ‘sanctions’ against the DPRK patently proves that it is still not [moving] away from inveterate repugnancy and hostility toward the DPRK,” an unnamed North Korean foreign ministry spokesman said, according to a statement published by the nation’s state media agency. DPRK is the abbreviation for North Korea’s official name, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. The spokesman repeated North Korea’s denial of responsibility over the hacking attack on Sony Pictures and criticized the U.S. for refusing its offer of a joint probe into the incident. In response to the U.S.’s findings that North Korea was behind the November attack, President Barack Obama on Friday signed an executive order to widen the administration’s authority to move against Pyongyang’s government entities and individuals. The U.S. announced sanctions targeting 10 North Korean officials, who are arms dealers working in the country’s key markets, such as Syria and Iran, as well as its main intelligence agency. Arms trade is a major revenue source for the cash-strapped state. Some cybersecurity experts say November’s digital intrusion into Sony Pictures was likely an unhappy insider’s job, casting doubt on the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s attribution of the attack to North Korean hackers. However, U.S. officials dismiss the experts’ assessment, saying it is based on limited knowledge because they don’t have access to classified information—intelligence the U.S. government refuses to disclose publicly for fear of giving information to the attackers. The Sony hack was followed by threats against movie theaters that planned to show the Sony Pictures film, “The Interview”—a comedy about a fictional assassination plot against Kim Jong Un, North Korea’s dictator. North Korea has repeatedly condemned the film, which it claims was part of a plot orchestrated by the U.S. government. In the Sunday statement, the foreign ministry spokesman again hit out at the film, calling it “a disgusting movie openly agitating terrorism against a sovereign state.” The U.S. has imposed a series of sanctions on North Korea’s arms industry and luxury goods imports in recent years. The foreign ministry spokesman said sanctions taken against North Korea had no effect. “Now is the time for the U.S. to know that its sanctions did not weaken the DPRK but proved counterproductive as shown by the DPRK’s measures to further sharpen the treasured sword of Songun,” the statement said. Songun refers to North Korea’s official policy of prioritizing its military strength. On Saturday, South Korea’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the U.S. measures were “an appropriate response to North Korea’s consistent provocations,” including the recent Sony breach. Write to Jeyup S. Kwaak at jeyup.kwaak@wsj
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 01:00:35 +0000
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