The Korean Central News Agency and the Rodong Sinmun newspaper were back online Tuesday after earlier being inaccessible. It was unclear whether wider Internet service in the North has been restored to its previous levels.
The reason for the massive outage is not yet clear, but it comes just days after President Barack Obama warned the U.S. would retaliate against the North. A State Department spokeswoman, when asked about the situation, declined comment.
However, she did say the U.S. government is discussing a range of options in response to the Sony hacking, some of which, she said, will be "seen" and some that "may not be seen."
Doug Madory, a spokesman for the U.S.-based Internet analysis firm Dyn Research, said the Internet problems in North Korea could be the result of an attack.
Earlier, North Korea had called on the United States to apologize for implicating Pyongyang in the hacking of Sony Pictures and threatened to fight back in a variety of ways, including cyberwarfare.
The National Defense Commission for Pyongyang said in state media late Sunday that the U.S. government was wrong to blame North Korea for the hacking. It also said the claims are groundless.
Meanwhile, China's Foreign Ministry said it does not have enough information to determine whether reports that North Korea used Chinese facilities to stage a cyberattack on Sony Pictures are true.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said Monday China is "opposed to all forms of cyberattacks" and would not reach any conclusions without having "enough facts."
However, Hua said China is opposed to attacks on a third party "through making use of the facilities of another country" and is ready to have a "dialogue with other countries."
The United States is in talks with China to possibly help block cyberattacks from Pyongyang
netizens left a footprint.