Barack Obama has said the US government is considering putting North Korea back on a US list of countries that sponsor terrorism.
Speaking to CNN in a pre-recorded interview the US president said a process was already in place to "review" the situation.
"And we don't make those judgments just based on the news of the day. We look systematically at what's been done and based on those facts, we'll make those determinations in the future" he added.
President Obama also said he does not consider the cyber attack on Sony Corp - which has been blamed on North Korea - to be an act of war, but rather cyber vandalism.
Mr Obama and his advisers are weighing up how to respond in kind to the attack, which prompted Sony to withdraw a comedy movie, ‘The Interview’ that had been prepared for release to movie theatres over the Christmas period.
The film is about a fictional CIA plot to kill North Korea's leader Kim Jong-un.
"No, I don't think it was an act of war. I think it was an act of cyber vandalism that was very costly, very expensive. We take it very seriously. We will respond proportionately," Mr Obama told CNN's "State of the Union with Candy Crowley" show.
During the interview Mr Obama also vowed to “do everything I can” to close the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay and stated separately that Russian President Vladimir Putin is presiding over the collapse of the Russian currency, a financial crisis and a huge economic contraction.
