Obama Calls Sony Decision a ‘Mistake’
President Obama called the decision by Sony Pictures to cancel the release of “The Interview” after threats from hackers the F.B.I. said were backed by North Korea a “mistake.”
Video by Associated Press on December 19, 2014. Photo by Stephen Crowley/The New York Times.
WASHINGTON — President Obama on Friday said that the United States “will respond proportionally” against North Korea for its cyberattacks on Sony Pictures, and criticized the studio for giving in to intimidation and pulling the satirical movie that provoked the attacks.
Mr. Obama said the response would come “at a place and time we choose,” but declined to be more specific about what it would be. He said that “we have been working out the range of options that will be presented to me.”
His threat came just hours after the F.B.I. said it had extensive evidence that the North Korean government organized the cyberattack that debilitated the Sony computers, marking the first time the United States has explicitly accused the leaders of a foreign nation of deliberately damaging American targets.
Sony this week dropped its plans for the release of “The Interview,” a movie that depicts the assassination of the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, after threats were made against the theater companies that intended to show it.
Trailer: ‘The Interview’
A preview of the film.
Video by Columbia Pictures on December 17, 2014. Photo by Internet Video Archive.
In criticizing Sony’s leadership for withdrawing the film, Mr. Obama argued that the precedent it set could be damaging — and that the United States could not give in to intimidation. He said that it would encourage other countries to sabotage documentaries, “or news reports they don’t like.”
Mr. Obama did not pass up the opportunity to take a jab at the insecure North Korean government for worrying about a Hollywood comedy, even a crude one.
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