President Obama said Friday that the U.S. will retaliate against North Korea for its cyberattack against Sony Pictures, and he thinks the movie studio “made a mistake” by canceling the release of a movie in response to the hacking.
“They caused a lot of damage, and we will respond,” Mr. Obama said of the North Koreans at a White House news conference. “We will respond in a place and time and manner that we choose.”
Mr. Obama also said he disagreed with the studio’s move to cancel the release of the flick.
“I wish they’d spoken to me first,” Mr. Obama said. “I’d told them do not get into a pattern in which you’re intimidated by these kinds of attacks.”
Mr. Obama compared the situation to the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and said America doesn’t give in to terrorism.
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The president said he is “sympathetic” to Sony’s concerns about the potential threat to its employees and the damage inflicted.
“It suffered significant damage,” Mr. Obama said. “Having said all that, yes I think they made a mistake. We cannot have a society where some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship here in the United States.”
Asked if the U.S. believes that another country such as China was involved in the hacking, the president said “we have no indication” that any other nation participated in the attack.
• Dave Boyer can be reached at dboyer@washingtontimes.com.
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