Four-star spymaster behind North Korean hacking; Sony’s ‘The Interview’ available online

U.S. intelligence agencies have identified the military officer orchestrating North Korea’s state-sponsored hacking attacks, such as the one on Sony Pictures Entertainment. He is Gen. Kim Yong-chol, director of the espionage and clandestine operations service known as the Reconnaissance General Bureau, or RGB.

The RGB was formed in 2009 when the Korean People’s Army, the communist state’s military, combined its Reconnaissance Bureau with the ruling Workers’ Party of Korea Central Committee Operations Department.