Obama: North Korea hack on Sony Pictures was not an act of war

Associated Press in Honolulu
theguardian.com, Sunday 21 December 2014 13.56 GMT

The US is reviewing whether to put North Korea back onto its list of state sponsors of terrorism, President Barack Obama said in a wide-ranging interview recorded on Friday and broadcast on Sunday, as he decides how to respond to the cyber-attack on Sony Pictures that has been blamed on the communist nation.

Speaking to CNN, Obama described the Sony hacking case as a “very costly, very expensive” example of cybervandalism, but did not call it an act of war. In trying to fashion a proportionate response, the president said the US would examine the facts to determine whether North Korea should be put back on the terrorism sponsors list.

“We’re going to review those through a process that’s already in place,” Obama said. “I’ll wait to review what the findings are.”

North Korea, meanwhile, threatened to hit back at the White House and other US targets if Washington sanctioned it for an alleged hacking attack. The country’s top military body, the National Defence Commission (NDC), again denied involvement in the hacking.

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