US sanctions North Korea over Sony hack

The United States imposes sanctions on North Korea after the massive Sony hack at the end of last year. The measures mainly affect influential individuals, US President Barack Obama announced on Friday.

Obama has ordered the US Treasury Department to impose blockades on ten Korean individuals and three Korean state-owned companies. They no longer have access to the American financial system. In addition, American citizens are no longer allowed to do business with the individuals and companies, according to Bloomberg news agency.

For the time being, these are the first measures that the United States is taking after last month’s extensive Sony hack. According to the Americans, Korean hackers also stole company data and unreleased films. President Obama said he would aim for ‘proportional measures’ in response, the first consequences of which are now visible.

A US government spokesman said Friday that the hack is serious for the United States. “We take seriously the attack by North Korea, which was intended to harm a US company and threaten the freedom of expression of artists and other individuals.”

The United States may also be behind the shutdown of the North Korean internet at the end of last year, but that country is silent about that. The internet was only restored after about nine hours of disruption in the Stalinist country. The outage and the Sony hack led to the US and North Korea currently being embroiled in a heated feud.