Sony Pictures cyber-attack: A reminder that North Korea is a very real threat to our security

North Korea is an astonishing survival into the 21st century of 19th century
traditions of oriental despotism. Just as the old kings of Korea were
demigods, beyond mortal criticism and revered as infallible by their awed
subjects, so the present-day rulers of North Korea are presented as geniuses
who can make no mistakes. Moreover, in this tradition, the monarch
personifies the nation – to mock Kim Jong-un is to mock the proud North
Korean people.

So when Sony Pictures trailed their new comedy The
Interview (see video below), in which two American journalists are asked
by the CIA to assassinate Kim Jong-un, Pyongyang was bound to react with
fury. In June it denounced the film as an act of war (the country’s elite
probably genuinely believe that Sony Pictures was working on the
instructions of the White House) and asked the UN Secretary-General to
intervene.

And now hackers have broken into Sony Pictures’ systems and made available for
free download a number of unreleased films, which will cost the studio a lot
of money.

Few seriously doubt that North Korea was behind this attack and Pyongyang has
pointedly refused to deny involvement.

This incident is at first sight comical, unless you own shares in Sony
Pictures. But it is a sharp reminder that, however strange North Korea seems
to outsiders, it has clear values and beliefs that it is prepared to defend.
Convinced that it is a victim of an international US-led plot to destroy it,
North Korea has developed nuclear weapons.

It has now demonstrated very publicly that it also has extensive cyber-warfare
capabilities (there have also been several recent cyber-attacks on South
Korea).

Few of the old men who advise Kim Jong-un have travelled abroad or have much
understanding of the outside world. What to us looks like harmless fun can
easily appear to them an insult, or a threat that calls for retaliation –
and they would probably not hesitate to use cyber warfare to retaliate
against military and other strategic targets if they felt that this was
called for. The row over this comedy reminds us that North Korea is no joke.