joe detrani tracked him since his teenage years. i think that element of unrest, unpredictability is part of a psyche that says, i m someone you have to deal with and believe me, i have capabilities that despite the fact that we re a small country have capabilities that you have to address. reporter: inside north korea, the carefully crafted perception the country is locked in a state of war with south korea, the u.s. and its allies allows kim jong-un to continue the country s isolation and maintain absolute rule. in many ways avert ago tension from some of the economic hardships that people have to live through in north korea, but they re saying militarily was strong. and we re independent and nobody is going to mess with us in that regard so, yes, i do agree having that element of an external enemy isn t one for domestic control. reporter: the u.s. is still
capabilities that despite the fact that we re a maul country have capabilities you have to address. inside north korea, the perception the country is locked in a state of war with south korea, the u.s. and its allies allows kim jong un to maintain absolute rule. in many ways, they re earning attention from the economic hard hardships people have to live through in north korea, but they re saying militarily we re strong. and we re independent. and nobody is going to mess with us in that regard. so yes, i do agree having that element of external enemy is important for domestic control. the u.s. sayis it s still considering its response. officials are being very coy about whether the u.s. was responsible for the latest disruptions in north korea s internet. but whatever measures the u.s. takes, officials say they do expect some kind of counterresponse from kim jong un, in an effort to show he is in control both home and abroad. cnn, washington.
important for domestic control. and the u.s. says it is still considering its response against north korea for the cyberattack on sony. officials are being very coy about whether the u.s. is responsible for the latest disruption in the north korean internet. whatever the measures are the u.s. takes, officials expect some kind of counterresponse from kim jong-un, an effort to show that he is in control both at home and abroad. elise labott, thank you very much. with us now is peter beinart and brian stelter, host of cnn s reliable sources. why did sony all of a sudden change their mind? i take it they called these independent theaters around 11:00 last night saying if you want to run the film, go ahead? and at least one of them thought it was a prank at first but it was very real and they finalized the plans this morning. this is a show of defiance from