The White House said President Barack Obama signed an executive order on Friday sanctioning three North Korean organisations and 10 individuals.

The White House said the move was a response to North Korea's "provocative, destabilising, and repressive actions".

US sanctions are already in place over North Korea's nuclear programme.

But Friday's actions are the first time the US has moved to punish Pyongyang for cyber-attacks.

The FBI previously said it believed North Korea was behind the Sony hack.

The entertainment giant was embarrassed after a group calling itself Guardians of Peace leaked data from Sony computers, exposing emails and personal details.

The group later threatened cinema chains planning to screen Sony's satirical North Korea comedy, The Interview. Oblique references to the 9/11 terror attacks prompted cancellation of the film's nationwide release.

"We take seriously North Korea's attack that aimed to create destructive financial effects on a US company and to threaten artists and other individuals with the goal of restricting their right to free expression," the White House said in a statement.

Among those named in the sanctions are three government entities:

The Reconnaissance General Bureau, North Korea's primary intelligence organisation

 

North Korea's primary arms dealer

 

Korea Tangun Trading Corporation, which supports North Korea's defence research.

 

It is unclear how those entities were related to the cyber-attack.