First they said the movie was canceled, and that no alternative distribution would be adopted. A few days later, it appeared both on the web and in theaters. Now, a known dissident wants to make 100,000 copies on DVD and USB drives rain over North Korean territory. The Interview went from comedy to political weapon, and the only goal is to irritate the leaders of North Korea.
A dissident's escape from the regime
In the latter half of the 1990s, Park Sang-hak's father was carrying out intelligence work in Hong Kong, posing as a businessman. At that time, the North Korean government carried out a “purge of leaders” within the agency, so he concluded that he would die if he returned. The order was clear: Park Sang-hak and the rest of his family had to escape to China. Park left behind his fiancée (whom he never saw again), and one of his uncles was beaten to death as “punishment”. The transition was difficult, but in the end it was clear to Park Sang-hak: on one side there was freedom of speech and wealth; on the other, brainwashing and famine. The regime tried to assassinate him in 2011, and in 2013 he became president of the organization “Fighters for a Free North Korea”, which regularly launches balloons loaded with pro-democracy literature, DVDs, USB flash drives with copies of Wikipedia, and even cash so people can buy food on the black market. Now, it's The Interview's turn.
The Interview: from theaters to a political weapon
The controversial Sony Pictures comedy that explores the adventures of two journalists with the order to assassinate Kim Jong-un has been on everyone's lips for the past weeks. After many back-and-forths, and additional attacks, the film premiered in theaters and on the web. It was even widely searched (and downloaded) on file-sharing networks, so there's no doubt that The Interview has come far. Even so, it hasn't reached North Korea. Park Sang-hak and the Human Rights Foundation will be part of a campaign called “Hack Them Back”, which started on December 19. The goal is to distribute 100,000 copies of The Interview on DVD and USB drives with Korean subtitles throughout the year.
How many of those copies will really reach the North? No one knows for sure. The Human Rights Foundation confirmed that the North Korean government has created a “task force” to prevent The Interview from entering the country at all costs. At the same time, the situation in North Korea makes us think that dropping these copies will be little more than symbolic. I think the priorities for any North Korean are more focused on obtaining food than on watching a movie with the potential to eliminate him and his family.
