North Korea denies involvement in recent Sony Pictures Hacking– says NY Times and NK Officials.

There’s a huge problem in reporting news on one of the world’s only “blackspots,” and that would be the problem of verifying sources.

So, what happened is Kim Jong-un (the son of Jong-il for those who don’t quite get Korean surnames/First names relationships) got a little butt-hurt because Seth Rogan recently made a film about two journalists assigned with assassinating Jong-un. Which, if someone made that about me, it’d be a threat against my life. I guess all “celebrities” are up for grabs.

Ironically, the weekend before the film was set to release, all of Sony Entertainment’s – the company producing this film – computers were hacked. North Korea denies any involvement in the hacking.

The spokesman said North Korea did not know why Sony was targeted, but he speculated that the attack “might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers with” North Korea in its struggle to “put an end to U.S. imperialism.

The problem with this spokesman is verifying the source. Essentially, he’s North Korea’s publicist, but how do you actively speak for millions of people without being the “dear leader” or some sort of equivalent? Obama speaks for America, after all.

Can we take this Spokesman seriously? Given how we view North Korea as a bunch a brain-washed subjects following the “cult of personality,” do we take thinly veiled threats like:

The government in Pyongyang lashes out at any attempt from the outside to criticize Mr. Kim, calling it a challenge to the “supreme dignity” of the entire country. It has been especially sensitive about such criticism in recent weeks because there was an American-supported attempt at the United Nations to ask the Security Council to refer Mr. Kim to an international criminal court for human rights abuses.

No direct evidence has emerged yet that links North Korea to the hacking attack at Sony Pictures, and digital-security analysts have been divided over the likelihood of its involvement.

On Sunday, North Korea said there were “a great number of supporters and sympathizers” with North Korea “all over the world,” including “champions of peace” who might initiate more “righteous reaction” against the United States’ “evildoings.”

seriously? It’s just a movie.