The Interview: North Korea offers to hold joint inquiry with US into Sony cyber-attack

North Korea wants to hold a joint inquiry with the US into a cyber-attack on Sony Pictures after it strongly denied US claims that it is behind it.

The North Korean foreign ministry accused the US government of “spreading groundless allegations” and said a probe would refute the allegations.

The attack and subsequent threats against cinemas led Sony to cancel the release of The Interview, a satire including the fictional assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

The film had been due to open on Christmas Day.

However, Sony Pictures said it was considering releasing it “on a different platform”.

The FBI said on December 19 that the Pyongyang government was responsible.

On December 20, the North Korean foreign ministry said: “As the United States is spreading groundless allegations and slandering us, we propose a joint investigation with it into this incident.”

“Without resorting to such tortures as were used by the US CIA, we have means to prove that this incident has nothing to do with us.”

Yesterday, President Barack Obama criticized the film’s cancelation, saying he wished Sony executives had spoken to him before cancelling the release.

“We cannot have a society in which some dictator someplace can start imposing censorship,” he said, vowing to “respond” to the cyber-attack in a “manner that we choose”.

Responding to the president’s comments, Sony Pictures chief executive and chairman Michael Lynton said the studio had not made an error in canceling the release.

“We have not given in, we have persevered,” he told CNN.

A Sony statement said the decision had been based on “the majority of the nation’s theatre owners choosing not to screen the film”.

“Without theatres, we could not release it in the theatres on Christmas Day. We had no choice,” the statement added.

“It is still our hope that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so.”