North Korean sympathisers may have been responsible for the recent attack on Sony’s film division, according to a report from the country’s state-run media.
Writing on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) denounced the notion put about by Western media that the country itself was responsible for the attack, blaming its enemy South Korea for "floating the false rumour that the North was involved in the hacking".
"The hacking into Sony Pictures Entertainment might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathisers with [North Korea] in response to its appeal," the report read.
Earlier this year the a spokesman for the country criticised The Interview, a comedy by Sony due to be released on Christmas Day that tells the story of two journalists hired by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-un, the current dictator of North Korea.
A report by the tech site Re/code suggested that the slight might have prompted the attack, though other sources claiming to work with Guardians of Peace, the group behind the incident, have indicated it is a response to Sony’s behaviour in the entertainment market.
Sony has said the film release will go as planned, despite the devastating nature of the breach which leaked company passwords, executive salaries and 47,000 social security numbers of employees.
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