WASHINGTON _ The Justice Department has charged a North Korean national in the 2014 computer hack of Sony Pictures and a massive ransomware assault that infected hundreds of thousands of computers across the globe.
The criminal complaint, released Thursday, charges Park Jin Hyok, a computer programmer allegedly working for the North Korean government, with staging the attack.
The Sony hack, which became public in November 2014, was an apparent retaliation for the company's planned release of "The Interview," a satirical comedy about North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, which depicts a fictional assassination attempt against him.
The hackers wiped data from the studio's servers, exposed the personal information of tens of thousands of people, and revealed embarrassing emails between executives and filmmakers.
Sony Pictures, based in Culver City, decided to cancel its release of the film after the Guardians of Peace, the group that initially claimed credit for the hack, threatened to attack movie theaters showing it.
The company later released the movie to a small number of theaters and online over the Christmas holiday.
Top U.S. officials quickly blamed North Korea for the hack, and in early 2015 said its military's Reconnaissance General Bureau was responsible for "overseeing" the cyber strike. The Trump administration took a similar step in December, publicly blaming North Korea for launching the Wannacry ransomware attack.
The May 2017 cyber assault crippled an estimated 300,000 of the 2 billion Windows computers worldwide, slowing factories, canceling surgeries, eating homework assignments and shuttering gas stations.
A Justice Department spokesperson declined to comment on the case, which was first revealed Thursday by ABC News.
The charges are being unveiled on the same day that President Trump praised North Korea's Kim on Twitter and as the administration has been working to improve relations with the isolated nation and longtime antagonist of the United States. Trump and Kim held a high-profile summit in June to discuss relations and North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
"Kim Jong Un of North Korea proclaims 'unwavering faith in President Trump.' Thank you to Chairman Kim. We will get it done together!" Trump tweeted.
