US imposes new sanctions on North Korea over Sony hacking

North Korea said fresh US sanctions issued by President Barack Obama are 'hostile and repressive' policies by Washington.

President Obama issued an executive order authorising expanded sanctions against North Korea in the wake of the hacking of Sony Pictures Entertainment, which Washington blamed on Pyongyang.

In a statement from North Korea's foreign ministry on the state-run KCNA news agency the Communist country said: "The policy persistently pursued by the US to stifle North Korea, groundlessly stirring up bad blood towards it, would only harden its will and resolution to defend the sovereignty of the country."

It added: "The persistent and unilateral action taken by the White House to slap 'sanctions' against North Korea patently proves that it is still not away from inveterate repugnancy and hostility toward the country."

The United States has imposed new sanctions on North Korea in its first response to the cyber attack on Sony Pictures.

The sanctions, authorised by President Obama, targets three North Korean organisations as well as 10 individuals.

The FBI has blamed North Korea for the attack which leaked confidential data from Sony computers - an allegation Pyongyang has strongly denied.

"The order is not targeted at the people of North Korea, but rather is aimed at the government of North Korea and its activities that threaten the United States and others," President Obama wrote in a letter to House of Representatives and Senate leaders.

US sanctions against North Korea are already in place over the country's nuclear programme.

North Korea has issued a statement condemning the United States after the release of "dishonest and reactionary" film The Interview.

In a message reported by the country's state news agency KCNA, Barack Obama's administration was accused of "zealous prodding" and warned of a "miserable fate to be faced by it in the future".

The statement from a spokesperson for the National Defence Commission went on to compare Obama to a "monkey in a tropical forest" and blamed the US for the North Korean internet outage last week, accusing its rival of "not knowing shame like children playing a tag".

Sony's comedy film The Interview grossed over $1 million on Christmas Day after the company decided to partially release it in US cinemas.

The distributor initially withdrew the film from cinemas last week after a cyber-attack that the FBI has blamed on North Korea - the nation whose leader is assassinated in the spoof film.

Read: Xbox and Playstation hacked on Christmas Day

The Interview, the Sony Pictures film about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, opened in more than 300 cinemas across the United States on Christmas Day.

It drew sell-out audiences in many movie theatres, where punters said they were championing freedom of expression.

Seth Rogen, who co-stars in the low-budget comedy with James Franco, and co-director Evan Goldberg surprised moviegoers by appearing at a screening in Los Angeles.

ITV News' Rebecca Barry reports.

After pulling the release from major theaters following alleged cyber threats from North Korea, Sony Pictures has reached a deal with several independent theaters to show The Interview on Christmas Day.

Small movie houses in New York, Washington, Chicago and Los Angeles are among those planning to screen the film. The Christmas Day openings follow an online release of the film by Sony on Wednesday.

Controversial film The Interview is to be screened in selected US cinemas from today.

It comes after Sony Pictures released the film for online streaming on Christmas Eve.

Comedy film The Interview will be available for rental and purchase online from later today on YouTube, Google Play, Microsoft Xbox Video and on its own dedicated website, Sony has announced.

The distributor initially withdrew the film from cinemas last week after a cyber-attack that the FBI has blamed on North Korea - the nation whose leader is assassinated in the spoof film.

On Tuesday the film was made available to cinemas for limited release, beginning on Christmas Day.

Google's YouTube unit has tentatively agreed to stream the controversial film The Interview, reports suggest.

It will offer online rentals starting on Thursday, CNN reported.

The release comes after Sony agreed to show the controversial movie at around 200 cinemas - less than a week after pulling the film's planned release over security fears following a devastating cyber attack blamed on North Korea.

President Obama welcomed the decision to show the film, having criticised the decision to withdraw it from cinemas as a "mistake".

Sony Pictures comedy The Interview will now be screened in more than 200 cinemas, a spokesman said.

It comes after the studio scrapped a wide release last week over security fears made by hackers over the plot line to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un.

The film will be be released in America on Christmas Day.