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North Korea Now Claims the US Government Made 'The Interview'

In a bizarre statement published by the country's state-run news agency, North Korea threatened to attack the US and again denied hacking Sony Pictures.
Photo via Flickr

In the latest round of the blame game going on between the US and North Korea, the reclusive Asian country accused the US government of making the controversial film The Interview and threatened an attack as payback for recent comments made by President Barack Obama.

North Korea's state-run news agency published a statement in which the country's government again denied being involved in the hack that caused Sony Pictures to cancel the release of the film and made public millions of the company's emails and documents.

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"The DPRK has already launched the toughest counteraction. Nothing is more serious miscalculation than guessing that just a single movie production company is the target of this counteraction. Our target is all the citadels of the US imperialists who earned the bitterest grudge of all Koreans," the statement read.

The statement included no specifics about the "counteraction," and, at this point, there's no indication that North Korea has carried out any sort of reprisal. The country warned, however, that more cyber attacks may be looming.

North Korea demands 'joint investigation' with US into Sony Hack. Read more here.

— Will Ripley (@willripleyCNN)December 21, 2014

— Will Ripley (@willripleyCNN)December 21, 2014

— Will Ripley (@willripleyCNN)December 21, 2014

North Korea's message also included allegations that the US government had a hand in making The Interview. "The DPRK has clear evidence that the US administration was deeply involved in the making of such a dishonest, reactionary movie," the statement said.

Sony cancelled the release of the film after hackers threatened to attack theaters that hosted screenings. The cancellation caused an uproar in the US, with many people having fun with the situation on social media.

RIP The Interview — Raymond Lowe (@RayLowe91)December 21, 2014

Sony CEO strikes back after Obama slams studio for giving into North Korea's threats. Read more here.

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The movie stars James Franco and Seth Rogen, and the plot revolves around an assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The FBI has attributed the cyber attack to North Korea, though the country continues to deny any involvement. Obama said that the US would respond "proportionally" to the cyber attack, which began November 24 and resulted in some 38 million files being taken from Sony.

Sony has been heavily criticized for pulling the film, even drawing condemnation from Obama over the decision. Sony responded by saying they cancelled the film's release because not enough theaters were willing to show it, not because they were folding under the weight of the cyber attack.

Citing unnamed sources, the New York Post reported Sunday that Sony now plans to release the film for free on Crackle, the company's streaming video service, but a company spokesman later denied the report.

Follow Payton Guion on Twitter @PaytonGuion

Photo via Flickr