SEOUL: Pyongyang is not behind cyber-attack that led to leak of several unreleased movies and massive disruption to the Sony’s email and other parts of its internal computer network.
A Pyongyang diplomat in New York said recent speculative reports linking North Korean hackers to the attack were incorrect.
“Linking [North Korea] to the Sony hacking is another fabrication targeting the country,” the official, who asked to remain anonymous, told broadcaster Voice of America.
“My country publicly declared that it would follow international norms banning hacking and piracy.”
It is the first time that North Korea, which is known to have a sophisticated cyber-attack unit, has denied being behind the Sony hack.
Earlier this week a spokesman for its mission to the UN refused to rule out Pyongyang’s involvement, telling reporters to “just wait and see” who was behind the attack.
There had been speculation that Pyongyang, perhaps using hackers based in China, had got into Sony Pictures’ computer system in retaliation for the release later this month of The Interview, a comedy about a fictitious plot to assassinate the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.
Some experts also pointed to similarities between the Sony hack and a cyber-attack thought to have been carried out by Pyongyang on South Korean banks and TV networks last year.
