SEOUL: North Korea yesterday denounced a forthcoming American comedy film featuring a plot to assassinate its leader Kim Jong Un as an act of terrorism and threatened to unleash a “merciless counter-measure” if Washington failed to ban the movie.
The movie “The Interview,” starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, is scheduled for release in October this fall.
“Making and releasing a movie on a plot to hurt our top-level leadership is the most blatant act of terrorism and war and will absolutely not be tolerated,” the North’s official KCNA news agency quoted a foreign ministry spokesman as saying.
The Hollywood movie recounts the story of a talk show host and his producer who land a rare sit-down interview with Kim, the third leader of his family dynasty to rule North Korea.
The Central Intelligence Agency then recruits the pair to assassinate him.
The foreign ministry spokesman said North Koreans regarded the life of their leader as “more precious” than their own.
“If the US administration allows and defends the showing of the film, a merciless counter-measure will be taken,” the unnamed spokesman said.
The North currently holds three US nationals, accusing them of various crimes,and remains technically at war with Washington’s key Asian ally, South Korea. North Korea routinely refers to Americans as “imperialist warmongers,” berates American leaders through its media and once called US President Barack Obama a “wicked black monkey.”
Reuters
