A smear campaign for what?

Pyongyang, September 14 (KCNA) -- Han Yong Song, a researcher of the Institute for American Studies of the DPRK Ministry of Foreign Affairs, issued the following commentary on Thursday:

On September 6, the U.S. Department of Justice prosecuted what they call a DPRK citizen named "Pak Jin Hyok" as the principal offender to the Federal Justice Court in Los Angeles for hacking attack into the American film company "Sony Pictures Entertainment", an incident happened in 2014.

And on the same day the U.S. Treasury Department kicked up a farce of putting "Pak Jin Hyok" and the "Korea Expo Joint Venture Company", which they claim he is working for, on the sanctions list against the DPRK.

"Pak Jin Hyok" whom the U.S. Department of Justice accuses of being implicated in the hacking attack into the American film company "Sony Pictures Entertainment" is a non-existent entity, and furthermore, the act of cyber crimes mentioned by the Justice Department has nothing to do with us.

The U.S. farce of prosecution is none other than a vicious slander and another smear campaign full of falsehood and fabrication designed to undermine the DPRK.

What cannot be overlooked is the fact that the U.S. is misleading the public opinion as if our government is behind the crime by forcibly linking the non-existent "offender" and his so-called cyber crimes with our state organs.

Our State has long made it as its policy to oppose all kinds of cyber-attacks and fully ensure cyber-security, and is taking all steps for its implementation.

As far as the incident of hacking attack into the film company "Sony Pictures Entertainment" which the U.S. claimed as committed by the DPRK is concerned, the so-called "Guardians of Peace", then self-claimed international hacker group, had acknowledged its involvement and it was as clear as day that we had nothing to do with it.

Also, when "Wanna Cry" cyber-attack incident was happened in May last year, experts of the U.S. internet cyber security firm "Flash Point" and many other internet security experts acknowledged that was not connected with the DPRK in any way.

In reality, the U.S. is the chief culprit responsible for posing security threats in cyberspace, and the world vividly remembers the fact that the U.S. was criticized for even bugging the cell phones of its ally leaders and launching, without hesitation, cyber-attacks against its allies, let alone its enemies.

Nevertheless, the U.S. is forcibly linking the cyber-crimes with the DPRK; their purpose is to tarnish the prestigious external image of the DPRK, using cyber security issue as a pretext and thus justify their policy of "maximum pressure".

The U.S. is totally mistaken if it seeks to gain anything from us through preposterous falsehoods and high-handedness.

The U.S. should seriously ponder over the negative consequences of circulating falsehoods and inciting antagonism against the DPRK that may affect the implementation of the Joint Statement adopted at the DPRK-U.S. Summit at the crucial time for moving toward building mutual confidence in accordance with the spirit of the Joint Statement, and should control itself. -0-