Pyongyang: We'll Strike US Over 'Reckless' Rumors

Country blames 'cesspool of terrorism' for 'The Interview'
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 22, 2014 3:20 AM CST
Updated Dec 22, 2014 7:14 AM CST
Pyongyang: We'll Strike US Over 'Reckless' Rumors
North Koreans march through Pyongyang chanting slogans and holding posters denouncing the United States earlier this year.   (AP Photo/Kim Kwang Hyon)

North Korea's call for a joint investigation with the US into the Sony hack may have sounded unusually reasonable, but a statement issued last night is full of the bluster more normally associated with Pyongyang. The statement in state-run media accused the US of being behind the making of The Interview, accused President Obama of "recklessly" spreading rumors about the source of the hack, and said the country's army of 1.2 million was ready to strike back, reports USA Today. The "toughest counteraction will be boldly taken against the White House, the Pentagon, and the whole US mainland, the cesspool of terrorism, by far surpassing the 'symmetric counteraction' declared by Obama," the statement said.

In an interview yesterday, President Obama said that the US is considering putting North Korea back on the list of state sponsors of terror. China, meanwhile, has issued a statement saying it "opposes all forms of cyberattacks," but not mentioning North Korea or the Sony hack, reports Reuters. Pyongyang says The Interview is an "undesirable and reactionary" movie and it's glad Sony decided to cancel its release. But while North Korea doesn't like the way it's depicted in Western films, the history of North Korean cinema is full of American villains, sometimes with real American defectors playing the roles of evil capitalists or bloodthirsty military officials, the AP reports. (More North Korea stories.)

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