This morning the state-owned North Korean news agency said US claims that North Korea is behind the attacks on Sony are groundless slander and offered a joint investigation:
“As the United States is spreading groundless allegations and slandering us, we propose a joint investigation with it into this incident.”
It then warned of serious consequences if the offer is rejected:
“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.”
“We have a way to prove that we have nothing to do with the case without resorting to torture, as what the C.I.A. does
This response follows President Obama’s remarks yesterday about the cyberattacks and Sony’s decision to not release the film “The Interview.” He said:
“We will respond, we will respond proportionally, and in a place and time that we choose.”
Fine. Fry North Korea’s computers. Cut off their internet access. Blockade the entire country. Whatever.
But in the meantime, hit ’em with some good ol’ American free speech. Release the damned movie!
Update, Dec. 21, 2014: Still more threats from North Korea this morning:
“The DPRK has clear evidence that the U.S. administration was deeply involved in the making of such dishonest reactionary movie.”
“The DPRK 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.”
“Our toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon and the whole U.S. mainland, the cesspool of terrorism.”
Update, Dec. 23, 2014: Sony has announced it will release “The Interview” to a limited number of small, willing theaters, perhaps 200-300, on Christmas Day.
I’m betting the good guys have some serious hackers too. Set ’em loose.
Yep, Stuxnet was pretty effective. And maybe Anonymous will hit them again, too.
I think Sony is going to release it. Can’t buy that kind of publicity!
If the theaters continue to refuse to show it, it can still be released via Netflix, DVD, YouTube, etc. Lots of options that will spread it worldwide. Sony could always claim it was “leaked” or “stolen.”
Yes, one tenacious Montrealer has started a group and spread news on social media to acquire a copy from Sony for viewing on Jan. 14/15. We will see how it pans out. There are many on board and it is gaining steam. Leaks do happens 🙂
Oh, great! Now I’ve got the image of his little spout in my head!
😯
Sorry about that … not.
You’re just cruel…
😛
I know … 😈
Caring – even pretending to care – about North Korea and its owner is something that I simply do not understand. My lack of understanding extends to the existence of any rational justification for keeping U.S. Army soldiers stationed along the fictitious border between North and South Korea. I just don’t get it, I never have, I never will.
I wouldn’t care either, except we now know North Korea cares enough to mess with what we do here. And that ticks me off!
There are many more important problems facing the United States, most of which are in our own nation and are of our own making. Wasting time on an irrelevancy is not in our national interest.
I say this within the context,which seems always to need emphasis these days, that America belongs to its citizens, and not to its government. The government of the United States is – at least is supposed to be – the mechanism by which we, the citizens, establish and pursue our national priorities and goals. Government officials are the temporary employees we hire to do our work.
I don’t agree that our freedom of speech is an irrelevancy.
The rationalization for spending billions near the border between North and South Korea can be found in the funding spent to on the military resources needed to maintain our presence. Understanding the military-industrial complex isn’t complex… it’s simple… it’s MONEY… government minions, both elected and appointed being bought and sold.
POTUS says we, The us, will respond with a proportional response. What the hell would that be? I’ve been thinking about it for days. No idea. On “cyber war”, two good books I got recently. @War: The Rise of the Military-Internet Complex and Countdown to Zero Day: Stuxnet and the Launch of the World’s First Digital Weapon.
My guess is that for now he has no plan but intends to consult with cyber experts to hatch some sort of cyber attack. One that we may never hear about. Or at least never claim responsibility for.
I think the whole idea of responding militarily (or CIA-ly) is preposterous, but that movie should be released.
Oh, I agree there. Nothing overtly military or anything like that. No shooting wars over this. But cyberwarfare … that’s a whole different ball game. I wish the North Koreans many sleepless nights worrying about when, where, how, and if our response will come.
The President’s response was right on. Let the perps stew over what we may or may not do. But we should take North Korea up on the joint investigation just to open some dialogue with the secret state. Because the Koreans are denying any part in the hacking, we can talk to them while putting all possible heat on Sony to release the film. The truly big issue is free speech, which we must cherish at all costs.
Agreeing to their demand for a joint investigation would just be knuckling under to them again. We’ve already done too much of that. But I do relish the idea of letting them worry for a while about the timing and nature of our response. I just hope there is a response.
Just a few thoughts…
Greatest fear is that like many of the recent intelligence communities fiascoes, this intelligence conformation of who was behind the hacking will blow up in the intelligent communities faces and leave our country once again with pie on its face.
I also tend to agree with those who contend that Sony may have caved to simply protect the powers-to-be from further embarrassment and damage from additional information being released which could have perhaps in some way been even more damaging to the company. Otherwise I find it very difficult to come to terms with the fact that Sony would back down.
Logically one might also suggest that we Americans that hold free speech so dearly simply boycott any released Sony movies, Sony DVD purchases, or other types of media outlets peddling their wares and make their decision extremely costly. But of course, we know that would not ever happen because rhetoric like what I have just written, while it might sound good, is nothing more than flapping gums spewing guess what…? Rhetoric!
P.S. Along with wishing you Merry Christmas I was just curious if your Christmas Wish List had any video games on it this year. Haven’t heard much from you on the subject lately! 🙂
What many sources fail to make clear is that Sony didn’t announce the non-release of the film until after all the major theater chains said they wouldn’t show it. The theaters, obviously, were to be the point of distribution and they caved first. Sony is now saying the film will eventually be released, one way or another. Personally I think the theaters should reconsider and show the movie. And the sooner the better.
Merry Christmas to you too, Alan. I hesitate to report on my gaming too often since I get the impression most of my readers aren’t interested. I’ve been playing Far Cry 4 since it’s release last month. My Christmas wish list includes Shadow of Mordor and Dragon Age Inquisition.
I’ll have to check those out when I get a chance. As I may have mentioned at some point, I have a PS3 but prefer playing video games on my computer. But, I find myself in a predicament regarding that for some time now since my Windows platform (Vista) is too old for the latest releases which have to have Windows 7 or 8. I’m not sure what cost more… getting in the game or just trying to keep up! 😕
It does get expensive trying to keep up with the rapid technological advances in both gaming platforms and games. I opted for an Xbox One rather than a big new computer because these days I’m much more comfortable on the couch than sitting at a desk. Not sure it will be the best way to play Elder Scrolls Online when it releases next year (for the Xone) but I’m committed now.
Gabbygeezer and Mr. Mencken make good points. Is/was it really the North Korean government who made the threat,or just a couple of people in North Korea looking for their 15 minutes of fame? Can anyone really know…probably not!
The FBI said it was the North Korean government. And the demand for a joint investigation came from the state-operated radio station. That’s good enough for me.