One of Kim Jong Un’s representatives has recently declared that North Korea is actively against a new film starring James Franco. Franco’s film, entitled The Interview, details a fictional assassination plan against Kim Jong Un presented as a comedic adventure. The country has stated that they essentially plan to wage war on America if the film is allowed to premiere. North Korea is reportedly outraged at both the plot of the film as well as its depiction of Kim Jong Un.
In the film, the assassination plot is carried out by a run-of-the-mill talk show host and the man who produces his show. The United States Central Intelligence Agency orders them to kill Kim Jong Un after they are granted access to North Korea for an interview. Announcement of the film has sparked protest rallies by thousands of Korean citizens who view the film as a mockery of their country’s dignity. The rally was also in remembrance of the Korean War, a conflict for which the country still holds a resentment against the American military.
Over one million soldiers died in the war, and many hold the American military responsible for these deaths due to the decimation their planes wreaked upon the land. While American war vets honor the conflict, North Korea was in a state of bitter rancor on the sixty-fourth anniversary of the war. Many of them swore retribution against the United States for the results of the conflict, and their anger was certainly not assuaged by news of The Interview.
Korean representatives have spoken harshly on American politics, relating them to the plot of James Franco’s film. They believe that the idea of covertly assassinating a foreign leader is symbolic of America’s diplomatic relations. North Korea further chastised the United States as operating in a state of desperation and yearning for power. They even went so far as to imply that an American conspiracy may have been responsible for the shooting of JFK, the Mail Online reports.
Whether or not North Korea is serious when they say that The Interview is a declaration of war remains uncertain, but it is clear that they do not consider the upcoming comedy to be a laughing matter. Interestingly enough, Kim Jong Un’s representatives did not chastise all films which depict sour foreign relations. They even expressed acclaim for James Bond films, at least one of which portrays North Korea in a negative light. For whatever reason, they have expressed a particular distaste for The Interview, and are enthusiastically calling for a boycott of the film’s release.