ELEPHANT IN THE ROOM

China Forgets to Mention North Korea

Slams cyberattacks in general.

In a phone call to Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday, China’s foreign minister said the country is “against all forms of cyberattacks and cyberterrorism” but stopped short of mentioning North Korea amid discussion of the Sony Pictures Entertainment hack. A statement posted on the Chinese Foreign Ministry website on Monday summarized the phone call between Kerry and Wang Yi, emphasizing that China “opposes any country or person using infrastructure from another country to launch a cyberattack on a third-party country.” The U.S. has blamed North Korea for the hack that leaked troves of company emails, destroyed Sony’s computer system, and forced the studio to cancel its Christmas release of The Interview. The controversial comedy centers on a fictional assassination attempt on North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. North Korea maintains it has no involvement in the hack but has called the incident “righteous” and warned of retaliation over any U.S. punishment.