On Friday Barack Obama signed an executive order authorizing and permitting the sanctions on 3 North Korea and other 10 individuals for punishing over Sony cyberattack.
White House officials announced reporters that the move was in response to the Sony hack, but the targets of the sanctions were not directly involved. However these are the first sanctions punishing Pyongyang for suspected cyberattacks.
Even before alleged North Korea cyberattacks on Sony Pictures entrainment. “The Interview,” is a comedy about the assassination of Kim Jong Un. Some Koreans have seen “The Interview” online and the reviews are mixed. Sony was embarrassed after leaked data from computers revealing emails and all the personal info. Stating there are no plans to show the Sony Pictures film in South Korea at any cost.
“We take seriously North Korea’s attack that aimed to create destructive financial effects on a US company and to threaten artists and other individuals with the goal of restricting their right to free expression,” the White House said in a statement. “Today’s actions are the first aspect of our response.”
Obama says the sanctions affect three North Korean entities (including a govt intelligence agency and a North Korean arms dealer). They are also sanctioning more 10 individuals who work for those entities or the North Korean government. The White House uttered this is just the first part of the U.S. impose to the Sony incident.
“The actions taken today under the authority of the President’s new Executive Order will further isolate key North Korean entities and disrupt the activities of close to a dozen critical North Korean operatives,” Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in a statement. “We will continue to use this broad and powerful tool to expose the activities of North Korean government officials and entities.”