The North Korean authorities are taking all possible measures to block Sony Picture’s “The Interview,” a controversial film based on a fictional plot to assassinate Kim Jong Eun, from entering the country. A recent speech for members of the Party declared that while the viewing of South Korean media content has been tacitly tolerated for some time, going forward, anyone caught watching foreign films that malign the Supreme Leader [Kim Jong Eun] will face severe penalties.

According to a source in North Hamkyung Province on January 23rd, during the lecture the authorities stressed that they will punish severely those caught viewing materials from the United States.

Bracing for the film’s entry and dissemination within the country, North Korea conducted the presentation as a warning to stave off widespread circulation and influence. “It would be inconceivable for a North Korean resident to seek out and view any film which slanders our Highest Dignity [a common way to refer to Kim Jong Eun],” the speaker at the lecture said, in reference to the film, which portrays the young leader as an oafish antagonist.

However, according to the source, other methods, namely border tightening and crackdowns, prone to failure in the past, are unlikely to be successful at blocking the movie's entry and spread. Myriad routes running across the China-North Korea exist at this point, bringing in a plethora of South Korean media content through ever-evolving systems. He pointed out that it would simply be impossible, even for the extreme measures characteristic of the North Korean authorities, to obstruct all these conduits. Additionally, directly counter to the Party’s intentions, this lecture will likely serve only to drum up interest in, and increased demand for, American films.

[Source: DailyNK]