South Korean to Airdrop The Interview in North

[LiberalElite]

Source: USA Today

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — 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.

Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/2014/12/31/skorean-interview-drop-nkorea/21091929/

[brooklynite]

1. Beyond irresponsible...

Makes a great headline, but anyone who comes across said DVD is likely to be executed.

"North Korea publicly executes 80 people 'for watching smuggled South Korea TV shows'"

[rpannier]

2. If they want to break down the cult they're going to need more than that dvd

Especially since few have them

The North Korean economy has grown each year under Kim Jong-un and agricultural out put is highest in years (as reported by the South Korean Unification Ministry)
The country has been aided by the typhoon belt having missed them for (I think) 3 years in a row and last year was a rather mild (warm) winter here on the peninsula.

[davidpdx]

6. But information is getting into North Korea which is going to be the impetus for change

We know from North Korean refugees that movie and TV programs are very popular within the country and there is a thriving black market for programs from South Korea and western countries.

Granted that particular movie is not the best way to go about change, but I would bet many North Koreans that have heard about it are very curious. Certainly the movie makes fun of some of the myths that surround the family (one of them being that he doesn't shit or piss).

While the economy has grown slightly, it's not likely to make much of a difference to the ordinary North Korean. Only those who are party members and/or high up are going to benefit from the growth.

Yes, I believe that last typhoon that hit them was Sept 2010. I remember that one because it uprooted many trees here around Seoul.

[freshwest]

19. The one about not eliminating waste isn't a myth. Looks ready to explode like an outhouse.

The agricultural wealth of North Korea is a mystery when one hears stories through the years of mass starvation. The story more complex than anything we will ever hear. NK or Kim, has partners in Russia, Iran, Syria and China. There are massive human rights abuses in the region taking place right now:

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2014/jun/10/-sp-migrant-workers-new-life-enslaved-thai-fishing

May have gone off topic there, but since you live in the region I thought you might have some knowledge or opinions on that.

[davidpdx]

38. On the human rights violations I am very knowledgeable

On the agricultural side, they simply make people work longer hours including sending people from cities out to the country to help with planting or harvests. They don't have much of a say in the matter if they want to live.

Their biggest benefactor is China as they are supplying food and oil. They trade with the other three, but as to what I'm not familiar with it.

He is known to love certain kinds of food which are imported into the country for him. I'd guess the amount of money spent on his food could feed at least a quarter of the country. I'd love to see those gulags cleared out and him put in one for "weight control". He wouldn't last long.

[LeftinOH]

3. Way to re-start the Korean War. Yikes.

[LiberalElite]

4. Technically it never ended, right? nt

[davidpdx]

7. I doubt most people even know that

[geardaddy]

14. I knew that

but not until I was in college studying East Asian Studies.

[William Seger]

15. Well, technically, it never started

Congress never declared war on N. Korea.

[EX500rider]

24. "Well, technically, it never started"

Technically the war started when North Korean forces—supported by the Soviet Union and China—invaded South Korea on 25 June 1950.

[Posteritatis]

26. Two foreign countries don't need Congressional approval to declare war on one another. (nt)

[William Seger]

32. "Technically," only Congress can "declare" the U.S. is at war

My point was, Korea was the first time an administration decided to bypass that formality by calling it a "police action."

[Posteritatis]

33. The Korean War is not specific to the US. Is this really so complex? (nt)

[William Seger]

35. Oh, okay

Looking into this some more, it seems N. Korea did formally declare war on S. Korea a couple hours after it invaded. However, none of the UN nations declared war on N. Korea. My point was more that, since "the big one," formal declarations of peace seem to be about as optional as formal declarations of war.

[Diclotican]

9. LeftinOH

LeftinOH

It is difficult to restart something that never ended - as it all ended in a rather embarrassing armistice back in 1953, after 3 year of horrible warfare where civilians and military alike had been casualties in a rather brutal and violent war...

And by the way - until Kim Jong Un declared the armistice off the table a few years back - after blowing a few fuses over some issues with the South - it was a armistice that had worked for decades - if not made things normal - so at least made it less dangerous than it was and still technically is - ROK and DKPR are technically at war as it is... The only thing that is different - is the shooting part..

Diclotican

[krispos42]

5. *snicker*

[davidpdx]

8. Sign me up.........

I'll donate some copies and attach granola bars to the dvd's. Already saw the movie and it was funny. Paju is generally the best place to do launch the balloons.

[onehandle]

10. China needs to just annex North Korea and get this over with.

Let China pay that check for the next 60+ years for a change.

Bring our troops home.

[mahatmakanejeeves]

11. Flash drives would be easier to hide from the authorities. NT

[LiberalElite]

28. He's including some nt

[Marrah_G]

12. good way to get NKs killed

[riversedge]

18. That may be true...yet

there is a fundamental freedom (not the patriot bagger type here in the USA) need by some NKorean's--a need to great as to risk life and limb. Wonder what I would do if so repressed for so many years.


I thought of the story of Eve eating the forbidden fruit.

[Marrah_G]

41. The majority have no way to watch a dvd

and just being found to have one could cause themselves and their entire families to be imprisoned in a death/work camp.

[MyNameGoesHere]

13. Sometimes I take a weird comfort in knowing

amurka doesn't have the monopoly on asshats.

[B2G]

16. Because so many of them have DVD players and TVs.

[LiberalElite]

20. - and also USB memory sticks for their computers!

[Kaleva]

37. Or electricity!

[davidpdx]

39. Actually you would be surprised how many have TVs and DVDs

Many of the portable DVD players are smuggled in from China on the blackmarket. The electricity they can't do much about given that shortages occur often. I have also read that North Koreans trade and loan DVDs with each other as well.

There are many white papers that have been published about the situation there that provide information like this directly from refugees.

[SummerSnow]

17. Don't start crap

[Alkene]

21. Stink bomb? n/t

[tblue37]

22. I'm sorry, but I see no humor in the idea of a movie about assassinating

the real head of state of a country, even when I deplore that person. Our own leaders are always at risk, and I just don't think it is cute to validate such an idea in popular media, especially in a country like our own, where so many violent sociopaths are armed to the teeth and continually whipped into a frenzy of hatred agaipinst our president--and *any* public liberal or Democratic leader.

First off, our country is frighteningly violent in many ways, and assassination has been used to remove our own leaders on several occasions. I don't approve of anything that seems to validate that approach to dealing with other nations or their nasty leaders. I even disapproved when a film was made about assassinating W, despite my complete detestation of the fool and his henchmen.

Besides, I am pretty sure this movie is not very good, so it should be allowed to sink or swim--probably sink--on its own merits, or lack thereof, not get propped up by all this "patriotic" propaganda. The film should probably never have been made, for both artistic and ethical reasons. No, I don't think our media should kowtow to threats by surrendering the right to free expression of ideas, but I also think the situation should not have arisen in the first place. It's not as though the script was so impressive that its brilliance outweighed any ethical concerns they might have had about seeming to promote political assassination.

Just as that stupid film that led to the riots surrounding the whole Benghazi debacle should never have been made, so, too, should the script for this one have been tossed on the junk pile. If "artists" are going to push the ethical boundaries so far, they should at least be doing so in the service of something with a modicum of artistic value.

[EX500rider]

25. Yeah what was Charlie Chaplin thinking when he made "The Great Dictator"?! lol

[Adrahil]

43. If the Norks hadn't gone nuts over this movie....

.... It would have barely been noticed. It a low-end comedy.

But because they went ballistic over it, it's gotten a LOT more attention.

I think that's pretty hilarious.

[vkkv]

23. The more "info drops" the better

Someone inside has to step up and do their duty for all N.Koreans.

[Marrah_G]

42. Unfortunately the citizens are so brainwashed and afraid that that is unlikely to happen

Those who do not agree with the government are unlikely to reach out to others for fear of being turned in...it's not just their lives they put in jeopardy, it is their entire family.

I am reminded of a documentary about a boy who was born in a work camp. His brother was going to try to escape and his mother knew about it. He talked to his teacher about it, because they are taught that loyalty is to the dear leader and not to family. Then watched his mother and brother hang. He is a very scarred young man, even after escaping.

[Rhinodawg]

27. I think its great...the little murdering punk ass dictator wont like it.

"he will start dropping 100,000 DVDs and USBs with the movie by balloon in North Korea as early as late January"

good.

[misterhighwasted]

29. DVD's will be bootlegged & resold to the perpetual comsumers of the USA.

Ya gotta know that someone's gonna profit somewhere.

[daleo]

30. Then Sony can sue western consumers for purchasing them

It is win-win.

[misterhighwasted]

31. Ha. No shit.. Ya think Sony planned this?

Just another creative Marketing maneuver from the Sony Sales Team.

Have a mighty good New Year daleo!!

[Brother Buzz]

34. That dude might want to rethink that January drop

[True Blue Door]

36. I hope they've taken care of any DRM issues.

It would suck if they arrive into the hands of dissidents, they put the discs in the player, and then it says "Out of Zone."

[defacto7]

40. There a good ways to get the message across...

without being belligerent with a piece of shit movie fiction which makes the US look as stupid as the North Koreans are told we are.

This is a pitifully ignorant choice to bring all Koreans to a peaceful solution to the suffering people in DPRK.