North Korea offers joint probe with US over Sony hack
In a new twist in the Sony hack story, North Korea has apparently extended an olive branch to US offering to help investigate the attack.
The Communist state has denied any involvement with the hacker group Guardians of the Peace that threatened Sony with violence unless it pulled The Interview, a comedy film about the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
North Korea said the US was "spreading groundless allegations" surrounding the incident that led Sony to cancel the release of the film on Christmas Day.
Sony has since said it is investigating ways to play The Interview starring Seth Rogan and James Franco. The corporation came in for criticism from US President Barack Obama for bowing to pressure from the hackers.
The North Korean offer was made on Saturday, with a statement from the foreign ministry saying:
As the United States is spreading groundless allegations and slandering us, we propose a joint investigation with it into this incident.
Without resorting to such tortures as were used by the US CIA, we have means to prove that this incident has nothing to do with us.
North Korea has been widely accused of perpetrating the hack. On Friday, the White House said the attack constituted a “serious national security matter”.
Josh Earnest, a spokesperson for the White House, said:
There is evidence to indicate that we have seen destructive activity with malicious intent that was initiated by a sophisticated actor and it is being treated by investigative agencies, both at the FBI and the Department of Justice, as seriously as you would expect.