AFP
Washington
US President Barack Obama yesterday warned North Korea it would face retaliation over a cyber attack on Sony Pictures and pledged not to bow to dictators, as an envoy for Pyongyang denied involvement.
Threats issued after the November attack prompted the movie giant to cancel the Christmas Day release of The Interview, a madcap satire about a CIA plot to kill North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.
The anonymous hackers invoked the memory of September 11, 2001 in threatening attacks on cinemas screening the film, prompting major theatre chains to say they would not screen it.
In addition to the threats, Sony has seen the release of a trove of embarrassing e-mails, scripts and other internal communications, including information about salaries and employee health records.
Obama, addressing reporters after the FBI said Pyongyang was to blame, said Washington would never bow to “some dictator” but admitted he believed Sony had erred in pulling the film.
“We will respond. We will respond proportionately and we’ll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose,” Obama said.
