North Korea lashes out at U.S. sanctions

BEIJING – North Korea on Sunday denounced new economic sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama in response to a cyberattack on Sony Pictures Entertainment that U.S. officials have blamed on the regime.

The country’s official news agency quoted an unnamed Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying the new sanctions would only “harden its will and resolution to defend … the dignity of the nation.”

The new penalties – which cut off access to the U.S. financial sector for 10 individuals and three government entities identified as key operatives engaged in hostile behavior, including the country’s intelligence agency – add to sanctions imposed on the nation in response to its nuclear weapons program.

The new sanctions, while largely symbolic, were the first public reprisal since U.S. officials blamed North Korea two weeks ago for the Sony attack, which came as the studio was preparing to release “The Interview,” a comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco that centers on a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea has praised the attack on Sony but denied it was behind it, proposing a “joint investigation” with the U.S. into the incident – a suggestion American authorities have ignored. On Sunday, the North’s Foreign Ministry spokesman characterized the film as a “disgusting movie openly agitating terrorism against a sovereign state.”