U.S. mulls putting North Korea back on terrorism sponsors list

PanARMENIAN.Net - President Barack Obama has said the U.S. is considering putting North Korea back on its list of terrorism sponsors after the hacking of Sony Pictures, according to BBC News.

A decision would be taken after a review, he said, calling the attack an act of cyber-vandalism, not of war.

North Korea denies the attack over The Interview, which depicts the fictional killing of its leader Kim Jong-Un.

Sony cancelled the Christmas Day release after threats to cinemas. It is considering "a different platform".

In a CNN interview on Sunday, Dec 21, President Obama described the hacking as a "very costly, very expensive" example of cyber-vandalism. He said U.S. officials would examine all the evidence to determine whether North Korea should be put back on the list of state sponsors of terrorism.

"I'll wait to review what the finding are," Obama said, adding that he did not think the attack "was an act of war".

North Korea had been on the U.S. list for two decades until the White House removed it in 2008, after Pyongyang agreed to full verification of its nuclear sites.

On Saturday, the U.S. also asked China to curb North Korea's cyber-attacks. So far there has been no response from Beijing - North Korea's main ally. North Korea's communications run through China, the BBC says.

The FBI said on Friday that North Korea had carried out last month's cyber-attack, in which script details and private emails were leaked.

The U.S. defended its findings on Saturday, with U.S. National Security spokesman Mark Stroh saying: "We are confident the North Korean government is responsible for this destructive attack."

"If the North Korean government wants to help, they can admit their culpability and compensate Sony for the damages this attack caused," he said.

The Interview features James Franco and Seth Rogen as two journalists who are granted an audience with Kim. The CIA then enlists the pair to assassinate him. The film's cancelled release drew criticism in Hollywood, with some calling it an attack on the freedom of expression.

Sony says it made the decision after most U.S. cinemas chose not to screen the film, following the threats.