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. 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.
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.
It is not clear how effective the DVD drop will be, as only a small number of ordinary North Korean citizens are believed to own computers or DVD players. 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. Park said the ballooning will be done clandestinely, with the pace picking up in March when he expects the wind direction to become more favorable.
IN-DEPTH
- Sony Is Streaming 'The Interview' Online
- North Korea Insults Obama, Blames U.S. For Internet Outages
- North Korea Internet Outage Accusations Not Worth Response, Official Says
— The Associated Press
