North Korea Reacts Strongly to Seth Rogen’s ‘The Interview’

North Korea is calling Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg’s new comedy The Interview an act of terrorism.  Although the film has not yet been released, the trailer has already triggered a threat of retaliation from the North Korean government.

As mentioned previously by mxdwn Movies, The Interview is a comedy that portrays how Rogen and James Franco’s innocent mission to interview their biggest fan, Kim Jong-un, takes a deadly twist.  The CIA recruits the television journalists to assassinate the North Korean leader rather than just interview him.

According to CNN, a spokesman for North Korea’s Foreign Ministry stated, “If the U.S. administration connives at and patronizes the screening of the film, it will invite a strong and merciless countermeasure.”  North Korea is sensitive to political attacks from the U.S. and seems to view the release of this film as a threatening form of propaganda.  The spokesman went as far as calling the potential release of the film, “the most undisguised terrorism” and “a war action.”

The current situation in North Korea is inhuman according to most, as the regime uses prison camps and torture against its own people. Since the regime is considered unpredictable, the U.S. stirring up tension with North Korea can be viewed as a risky move.  That being said, this isn’t the first time American cinema has poked fun at North Korean leaders.  Trey Parker’s Team America: World Police (2004) depicted Kim Jong-un’s father Kim Jong II as a lonely puppet.  A caricature of Kim Jong II also appeared as a proud waiter in the television series, 30 Rock.  Though North Korean leaders have been previously satirized, it is not surprising for a comedy about the murder of an actual leader to incite a controversial response.

Of course, all of this has’t stopped Rogen and Goldberg from moving forward with the project.  Rogen previously gave a comical response to the North Korean government’s disapproval of  The Interview, sending out the following tweet:  “Apparently Kim Jong Un plans on watching #TheInterview. I hope he likes it!!”

The studio, Sony, no doubt hopes that the controversy and tension will help the box office rather than create an international incident.  The Interview is scheduled to hit theaters October 10th.