Sony Pictures is investigating the possibility that a hack of the company that took place earlier this week could be the doing of North Korean hackers in an attempt to take down the company's corporate network.
North Korean hackers may have targeted the studio to damage its upcoming film "The Interview," which is a comedy film whose plot involves the assassination of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
The film, which stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, has been slammed by the North Korean government, which has threatened both the filmmakers and the U.S. government.
"There is a special irony in this storyline as it shows the desperation of the U.S. government and American society," said Kim Myong Chol, executive director of the Center for North Korean-U.S. Peace. "A film about the assassination of a foreign leader mirrors what the U.S. has done in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Ukraine. And let us not forget who killed [President John F.] Kennedy -- Americans. In fact, President [Barack] Obama should be careful in case the U.S. military wants to kill him as well."
The hacking began on Monday by a group that calls itself the "Guardians of Peace," or #GOP, whose members left a warning on the computers of Sony employees along with a menacing image of a skeleton. The warning said that internal data would be leaked to the world if Sony did not comply with the group's demands. Two days later, some of the files were reportedly leaked to Reddit.
While a link to North Korea has not yet been confirmed, Sony's security team is looking into the possibility that hackers from China worked under guidance from Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea.
The film is scheduled to be released on Christmas Day, with the two main characters, portrayed by Rogen and Franco, starring as journalists who are asked by the CIA to take down the North Korean leader.
"He really wants to be liked so he is annoyed by any kind of critical remarks about him," said Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in South Korea in regard to North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. "He sometimes takes offense at rather small issues. Its quite likely this is what cost [Kim's uncle] Jang Song Thaek his life."
North Korea has reportedly put together a team of 3,000 hackers to create online support for the North Korean regime and to destabilize its enemies. Despite the hack, Sony Pictures continued to promote the film via its Twitter feed and made no mention of the hack.
