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North Korea Suffers Countrywide Internet Shutdown Again

Sputnik News

21:09 27.12.2014(updated 21:47 27.12.2014)

North Korea has been suffering from intermittent Internet disruptions throughout this week, including a complete system shutdown for nearly nine hours on Tuesday. As of Saturday evening, Internet connectivity had not been restored.

MOSCOW, December 27 (Sputnik) – North Korea is continuing to have problems with Internet and 3G mobile networks on Saturday evening, Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.

According to Xinhua, as of Saturday evening, Internet connectivity had not been restored. North Korea has been suffering from intermittent Internet disruptions throughout this week, including a complete system shutdown for nearly nine hours on Tuesday.

The government in Pyongyang was quick to blame the United States for causing the instability in the country's networks.

US officials denied the country's role in the disruptions of North Korea's internet. Experts said Internet problems in North Korea might have been caused by anything, including a mere technical malfunction or a cyberattack, The New York Times said.

Earlier, North Korea also blamed the United States for the release of "The Interview", a controversial comedy about a fictional assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. According to Pyongyang officials, the film undermines "the dignity of the supreme leadership," according to the New York Times.

"Obama always goes reckless in his words and deeds like a monkey in a tropical forest," an unnamed North Korean spokesman told KCNA news agency, regarding the movie release. The choice of words to describe Obama has been designed to cause racial offence, Reuters said.

North Korea has a history of using crude offensive remarks against other top US and South Korean officials. Earlier this year, North Korea called US Secretary of State John Kerry a "wolf with a hideous lantern jaw" and South Korean President Park Geun-hye a "prostitute", the Guardian said.

There was no immediate reaction from White House officials in response to Pyongyang's harsh choice of words.

Last week, President Obama held North Korea responsible for organizing a cyberattack on Sony Pictures. Obama said the US would retaliate for the attack on Sony, however did not give out any further details.

'The Interview' has been at the center of the international scandal since last month. On November 24, a hacker group, known as Guardians of Peace, launched an attack on Sony Pictures and stole terabytes of sensitive data, including Social Security numbers, emails and unreleased movies. Then, the hackers threatened a series of terrorist attacks against cinemas that would show "The Interview". Sony Pictures decided to pull the film from theaters due to the threats. However, the movie was later released in several theaters.

© Sputnik