SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Leader of North Korea Kim Jong-Un. In addition to imposing financial restrictions on 10 officials and three agencies, President Barack Obama said the U.S. was also considering adding North Korea back on to its list of state sponsors of terrorism. (Photo: AP file)
North Korea: US 'Stirring Up Bad Blood' With Sanctions
Foreign ministry reiterates Pyongyang was not involved in Sony hacks
Jan 04, 2015
North Korea denounced the U.S. on Sunday for imposing new sanctions on the country in retaliation for recent hacks into Sony Pictures' systems.
The financial embargo would not weaken North Korea's military, but would serve to antagonize the country, North Korea's foreign ministry said on Sunday, according to the state-run news agency KCNA.
"The policy persistently pursued by the U.S. to stifle the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea], groundlessly stirring up bad blood towards it, will only harden its will and resolution to defend the sovereignty of the country," an unnamed spokesperson told KCNA.
That includes a call for an increase in arms, such as nuclear weapons, as a "deterrent" against the sanctions.
The identity of the hackers is still unknown. Officials in Pyongyang--and cybersecurity experts in the U.S--continue to deny that North Korea orchestrated the attacks. However, the FBI continued to point the finger at the nation, while the White House promised on Friday that the sanctions were only the first step in its retaliation campaign.
In addition to imposing financial restrictions on 10 officials and three agencies, President Barack Obama said the U.S. was also considering adding North Korea back on to its list of state sponsors of terrorism. The White House did not elaborate how those restrictions would prevent any potential cyber attacks in the future. Moreover, analysts have noted that the sanctions will likely have limited effect, as North Korea has already been under strict sanctions in the U.S. and worldwide for several decades.
"The persistent and unilateral action taken by the White House to slap 'sanctions' against the DPRK patently proves that it is still not away from inveterate repugnancy and hostility towards the DPRK," the foreign ministry said Sunday.
On January 20th, it begins...
Political revenge. Mass deportations. Project 2025. Unfathomable corruption. Attacks on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Pardons for insurrectionists. An all-out assault on democracy. Republicans in Congress are scrambling to give Trump broad new powers to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit he doesn’t like by declaring it a “terrorist-supporting organization.” Trump has already begun filing lawsuits against news outlets that criticize him. At Common Dreams, we won’t back down, but we must get ready for whatever Trump and his thugs throw at us. Our Year-End campaign is our most important fundraiser of the year. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover issues the corporate media never will, but we can only continue with our readers’ support. By donating today, please help us fight the dangers of a second Trump presidency. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
North Korea denounced the U.S. on Sunday for imposing new sanctions on the country in retaliation for recent hacks into Sony Pictures' systems.
The financial embargo would not weaken North Korea's military, but would serve to antagonize the country, North Korea's foreign ministry said on Sunday, according to the state-run news agency KCNA.
"The policy persistently pursued by the U.S. to stifle the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea], groundlessly stirring up bad blood towards it, will only harden its will and resolution to defend the sovereignty of the country," an unnamed spokesperson told KCNA.
That includes a call for an increase in arms, such as nuclear weapons, as a "deterrent" against the sanctions.
The identity of the hackers is still unknown. Officials in Pyongyang--and cybersecurity experts in the U.S--continue to deny that North Korea orchestrated the attacks. However, the FBI continued to point the finger at the nation, while the White House promised on Friday that the sanctions were only the first step in its retaliation campaign.
In addition to imposing financial restrictions on 10 officials and three agencies, President Barack Obama said the U.S. was also considering adding North Korea back on to its list of state sponsors of terrorism. The White House did not elaborate how those restrictions would prevent any potential cyber attacks in the future. Moreover, analysts have noted that the sanctions will likely have limited effect, as North Korea has already been under strict sanctions in the U.S. and worldwide for several decades.
"The persistent and unilateral action taken by the White House to slap 'sanctions' against the DPRK patently proves that it is still not away from inveterate repugnancy and hostility towards the DPRK," the foreign ministry said Sunday.
Nadia Prupis
Nadia Prupis is a former Common Dreams staff writer. She wrote on media policy for Truthout.org and has been published in New America Media and AlterNet. She graduated from UC Santa Barbara with a BA in English in 2008.
North Korea denounced the U.S. on Sunday for imposing new sanctions on the country in retaliation for recent hacks into Sony Pictures' systems.
The financial embargo would not weaken North Korea's military, but would serve to antagonize the country, North Korea's foreign ministry said on Sunday, according to the state-run news agency KCNA.
"The policy persistently pursued by the U.S. to stifle the DPRK [Democratic People's Republic of Korea], groundlessly stirring up bad blood towards it, will only harden its will and resolution to defend the sovereignty of the country," an unnamed spokesperson told KCNA.
That includes a call for an increase in arms, such as nuclear weapons, as a "deterrent" against the sanctions.
The identity of the hackers is still unknown. Officials in Pyongyang--and cybersecurity experts in the U.S--continue to deny that North Korea orchestrated the attacks. However, the FBI continued to point the finger at the nation, while the White House promised on Friday that the sanctions were only the first step in its retaliation campaign.
In addition to imposing financial restrictions on 10 officials and three agencies, President Barack Obama said the U.S. was also considering adding North Korea back on to its list of state sponsors of terrorism. The White House did not elaborate how those restrictions would prevent any potential cyber attacks in the future. Moreover, analysts have noted that the sanctions will likely have limited effect, as North Korea has already been under strict sanctions in the U.S. and worldwide for several decades.
"The persistent and unilateral action taken by the White House to slap 'sanctions' against the DPRK patently proves that it is still not away from inveterate repugnancy and hostility towards the DPRK," the foreign ministry said Sunday.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.