Pyongyang slams US over new sanctions

North Korea on Sunday denounced the United States for displaying "hostility" by imposing fresh sanctions over Pyongyang's alleged cyberattack on Sony Pictures.

"The persistent and unilateral action taken by the White House to slap 'sanctions'... patently proves that it is still not away from inveterate repugnancy and hostility toward the (North)," a foreign ministry spokesman told the state-run KCNA news agency.

The spokesman said that the new sanctions would not weaken the country's military, and would instead cause it to strengthen its "Songun" policy of privileging the military with regard to funding and power.

The US imposed sanctions on several North Korean officials and institutions on Friday after the FBI determined last month that Pyongyang was behind the November hacking attack on the Sony movie studio, which led to the release of tens of thousands of confidential emails and business files.

The North has repeatedly denied involvement in the cyberattack - although it has praised it as a "righteous deed" - and has proposed a joint investigation, a proposal Washington has ignored.

Movie outrage

The attack came in the wake of Pyongyang's fury at a Sony movie comedy, "The Interview," which depicts the fictional assassination of leader Kim Jong Un. Hackers involved in the Sony cyberattack threatened to attack theaters showing the film, leading Sony to at first call off the film's release.

The company later decided to release the film in some selected theaters and online.

North Korea is already facing US sanctions over its nuclear program, and US President Barack Obama has warned Pyongyang that Washington is considering putting it back on its list of state sponsors of terrorism.

Such a move would jeopardize global aid to the country.

tj/ksb (AP, AFP, Reuters)