N Korea proposes joint probe with US into Sony cyber attack

SEOUL, Dec 20 (AFP):- North Korea called Saturday for a joint investigation with the US into a crippling cyber attack on Sony Pictures, denouncing Washington's "slandering" after President Barack Obama warned Pyongyang of retaliation.
The US blames the isolated state for the hacking which prompted the cancellation of the Christmas Day release of "The Interview", a madcap romp about a CIA plot to kill leader Kim Jong-Un which infuriated the North.
"As the United States is spreading groundless allegations and slandering us, we propose a joint investigation with it into this incident," a foreign ministry spokesman in Pyongyang said.
"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," the spokesman was quoted as saying by the official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA).
Pyongyang has repeatedly denied the secretive state was behind the hacking, which led to the release of a trove of embarrassing emails, scripts and other internal communications, including information about salaries and employee health records.
Pyongyang warned the United States of "grave consequences" if its proposal for a joint investigation was rejected. Addressing reporters after the FBI said Pyongyang was to blame, Obama said Washington would never bow to "some dictator".
"We can confirm that North Korea engaged in this attack," Obama said.
"We will respond. We will respond proportionately and we'll respond in a place and time and manner that we choose." While the president said he was sympathetic to Sony's plight, he also said the movie giant had "made a mistake" in cancelling "The Interview" Christmas release.
Sony defended its decision, made after anonymous hackers invoked the 9/11 attacks in threatening cinemas screening the film, prompting theatre chains to say they would not risk showing it.