The hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment’s computer system wasn’t “an act of war,” but was “an act of cyber vandalism,” U.S. President Barack Obama said.
The U.S. has linked the action against the Sony Corp. unit to North Korea, whose government denies any involvement. North Korea is planning unspecified action on U.S. soil over the allegation, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported, without saying where it got the information.
“It was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive,” Obama told CNN’s “State of the Union” program in an interview. “We take it very seriously. We will respond proportionately.”
Obama also said the U.S. is reviewing whether to put North Korea back onto its list of state sponsors of terrorism. He told CNN that the U.S. will examine the facts to determine whether North Korea qualifies for the terrorism sponsors list from which it was removed in 2008.
There are “clear criteria” for the list, Obama told CNN.
Sony canceled the Dec. 25 release of The Interview, a comedy film about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, saying that theater chains had received threats of violence. The move prompted Obama to say the company “made a mistake.”