South Korean to drop Sony film "The Interview" in North Korea by balloon
A South Korean activist said Wednesday
that he will launch balloons carrying DVDs of Sony's "The Interview"
toward North Korea to try to break down a personality cult built around
dictator Kim Jong Un.
The comedy depicting an assassination
attempt on Kim is at the center of tension between North Korea and the
U.S., with Washington blaming Pyongyang for crippling hacking attacks on
Sony Entertainment. Pyongyang denies that and has vowed to retaliate.
Activist Park Sang-hak said he will
start dropping 100,000 DVDs and USBs with the movie by balloon in North
Korea as early as late January. Park, a North Korean defector, said he's
partnering with the U.S.-based non-profit Human Rights Foundation,
which is financing the making of the DVDs and USB memory sticks of the
movie with Korean subtitles.
Park said foundation officials plan to
visit South Korea around Jan. 20 to hand over the DVDs and USBs, and
that he and the officials will then try to float the first batch of the
balloons if weather conditions allow.
"North Korea's absolute leadership will crumble if the idolization of leader Kim breaks down," Park said by telephone.
If carried out, the move was expected to
enrage North Korea, which expressed anger over the movie. In October,
the country opened fire at giant balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang
propaganda leaflets floated across the border by South Korean activists,
trigging an exchange of gunfire with South Korean troops.
But it is not clear how effective the
plan will be, as only a small number of ordinary North Korean citizens
are believed to own computers or DVD players. Many North Koreans would
not probably risk watching the movie as they know they would get into
trouble if caught. Owning a computer requires permission from the
government and costs as much as three months' salary for the average
worker, according to South Korean analysts.
Not everyone supports sending balloons
into the North, with liberals and border town residents in South Korea
urging the activists to stop. North Korea has long demanded that South
Korea stop the activists, but Seoul refuses, citing freedom of speech.
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