This article is from the source 'washpo' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/for-north-korea-the-interview-latest-episode-in-perceived-us-conspiracies/2014/12/19/7361ec0a-8703-11e4-abcf-5a3d7b3b20b8_story.html?wprss=rss_world
The article has changed 4 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| For North Korea, ‘The Interview’ latest episode in perceived U.S. conspiracies | For North Korea, ‘The Interview’ latest episode in perceived U.S. conspiracies |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| TOKYO — The scene that may have clinched the hack-driven demise of “The Interview” shows a missile plowing into a helicopter as the actor playing Kim Jong Un meets a fiery end in slow-mo. | |
| All the while, an acoustic version of Katy Perry’s “Firework” plays. For North Korea — run by a totalitarian regime where the ruling Kim family is, if not quite immortal, certainly untouchable — the images are the ultimate taboo. | All the while, an acoustic version of Katy Perry’s “Firework” plays. For North Korea — run by a totalitarian regime where the ruling Kim family is, if not quite immortal, certainly untouchable — the images are the ultimate taboo. |
| But it’s also something of a made-in-Hollywood psychoanalysis. | But it’s also something of a made-in-Hollywood psychoanalysis. |
| The film plays out many of North Korea’s deepest fears: How the world is out to get them, and the perception that America, in particular, is busy hatching plots to bring down the world’s only communist dynasty. | The film plays out many of North Korea’s deepest fears: How the world is out to get them, and the perception that America, in particular, is busy hatching plots to bring down the world’s only communist dynasty. |
| “In North Korea, it’s more or less a fait accompli that the Americans are trying to kill our leader and bring down our leader,” said Adam Cathcart, a North Korea expert at Leeds University in England. | “In North Korea, it’s more or less a fait accompli that the Americans are trying to kill our leader and bring down our leader,” said Adam Cathcart, a North Korea expert at Leeds University in England. |
| There’s also the steadily progressing campaign in the United Nations — officially led by the European Union and Japan, but which North Korea blames on Washington — to refer Kim and his cronies to the International Criminal Court. | There’s also the steadily progressing campaign in the United Nations — officially led by the European Union and Japan, but which North Korea blames on Washington — to refer Kim and his cronies to the International Criminal Court. |
| Yet that is politics, and North Korea is accustomed to facing down the West and its allies. “The Interview” cuts deeper: depicting a CIA-sponsored plot to assassinate the young, Katy Perry-loving North Korean leader. | Yet that is politics, and North Korea is accustomed to facing down the West and its allies. “The Interview” cuts deeper: depicting a CIA-sponsored plot to assassinate the young, Katy Perry-loving North Korean leader. |
| Kim’s real musical tastes are unknown, but the essence of the movie plot is pretty much in line with North Korea’s state-driven phobias. Whether or not the embarrassing cyberattacks on Sony Pictures can be pinned on North Korea — which the United States claims — they have become a forum to delve into the mind and times of North Korea’s ruler. | Kim’s real musical tastes are unknown, but the essence of the movie plot is pretty much in line with North Korea’s state-driven phobias. Whether or not the embarrassing cyberattacks on Sony Pictures can be pinned on North Korea — which the United States claims — they have become a forum to delve into the mind and times of North Korea’s ruler. |
| His regime derives legitimacy mainly from the public perception of the respect and fear it commands. It simply cannot mimic a democratic state and shrug off what is inconvenient or uncomfortable, analysts say. | His regime derives legitimacy mainly from the public perception of the respect and fear it commands. It simply cannot mimic a democratic state and shrug off what is inconvenient or uncomfortable, analysts say. |
| Since North Korea was founded by Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, almost 70 years ago, the regime has maintained control through a combination of repression, fear and isolation from the outside world. | Since North Korea was founded by Kim’s grandfather, Kim Il Sung, almost 70 years ago, the regime has maintained control through a combination of repression, fear and isolation from the outside world. |
| It also has established an all-encompassing personality cult that is anything but a laughing matter for North Koreans. | It also has established an all-encompassing personality cult that is anything but a laughing matter for North Koreans. |
| The Sony hacking brouhaha coincided with the end of the official mourning period after the death of Kim Jong Il, the second-generation leader, three years ago. | The Sony hacking brouhaha coincided with the end of the official mourning period after the death of Kim Jong Il, the second-generation leader, three years ago. |
| The regime has been trying to drape the middle Kim’s legacy in historical finery while seeking to bolster Kim Jong Un’s image as a worthy heir. North Korean students must now complete 81 hours of course work on "the history of Kim Jong Un.” | The regime has been trying to drape the middle Kim’s legacy in historical finery while seeking to bolster Kim Jong Un’s image as a worthy heir. North Korean students must now complete 81 hours of course work on "the history of Kim Jong Un.” |
| North Koreans have also been told to memorize a new version of the "10 Major Principles to Establish the Workers’ Party's Only Body of Thought." The previous text described only Kim Jong Il as heir to the family power. The update adds Kim Jong Un as an official successor, according to Asia Press, a Japan-based news organization that has contacts inside North Korea. | |
| The younger Kim faces a far more serious challenge to North Korea’s honor and survival than his father did, said Scott Snyder, a Korea expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. | The younger Kim faces a far more serious challenge to North Korea’s honor and survival than his father did, said Scott Snyder, a Korea expert at the Council on Foreign Relations. |
| Pyongyang sees itself caught in a “two-pronged pincer movement,” he said. | Pyongyang sees itself caught in a “two-pronged pincer movement,” he said. |
| First, North Korea considers the campaign for possible crimes against humanity charges in the international court, or ICC, as part of a wider U.S. strategy of naming and shaming Pyongyang. Second, it thinks Washington is orchestrating an even more insidious policy through proxies in Hollywood — not just mocking the Kim regime, but to portray it literally being blown to bits. | First, North Korea considers the campaign for possible crimes against humanity charges in the international court, or ICC, as part of a wider U.S. strategy of naming and shaming Pyongyang. Second, it thinks Washington is orchestrating an even more insidious policy through proxies in Hollywood — not just mocking the Kim regime, but to portray it literally being blown to bits. |
| “This is all seen as an attack on their leader,” Snyder said. “That’s the most sensitive aspect in the ICC case and in the movie.” | “This is all seen as an attack on their leader,” Snyder said. “That’s the most sensitive aspect in the ICC case and in the movie.” |
| While North Korea has denounced the Sony film as disrespectful in its domestic press, it has not given any details about the plot. | While North Korea has denounced the Sony film as disrespectful in its domestic press, it has not given any details about the plot. |
| Defectors from North Korea have mixed feelings about the film, which caricatures a regime that ignores starvation and has no qualms about sending whole families to brutal labor camps. | Defectors from North Korea have mixed feelings about the film, which caricatures a regime that ignores starvation and has no qualms about sending whole families to brutal labor camps. |
| “I was curious about the movie after reading news reports so I watched the trailer, but I think the film doesn’t describe North Korea fairly,” said Kim Hyuk, a university student in Seoul who escaped from Chongjin in northern North Korea. | “I was curious about the movie after reading news reports so I watched the trailer, but I think the film doesn’t describe North Korea fairly,” said Kim Hyuk, a university student in Seoul who escaped from Chongjin in northern North Korea. |
| “North Korea doesn't look like the real North Korea, and I felt the movie was belittling North Korea and its people,” he said. “Kim Jong Un needs to be punished, not by assassin or extreme means but by public trials. I wish the movie showed him standing trial and receiving a heavy punishment.” | “North Korea doesn't look like the real North Korea, and I felt the movie was belittling North Korea and its people,” he said. “Kim Jong Un needs to be punished, not by assassin or extreme means but by public trials. I wish the movie showed him standing trial and receiving a heavy punishment.” |
| Kim Hye-sook, who spent 28 years in a gulag after her grandfather defected to South Korea, also had problems with the film. | Kim Hye-sook, who spent 28 years in a gulag after her grandfather defected to South Korea, also had problems with the film. |
| “It is true that Kim Jong Un and North Korea violate the human rights of its people, but making a movie about a head of state being assassinated goes too far,” she said. It would be far too dangerous for North Koreans, now used to following South Korean dramas smuggled via China, to watch “The Interview.” | “It is true that Kim Jong Un and North Korea violate the human rights of its people, but making a movie about a head of state being assassinated goes too far,” she said. It would be far too dangerous for North Koreans, now used to following South Korean dramas smuggled via China, to watch “The Interview.” |
| Being caught with a South Korean show — which glimpses the luxuries across the border — is a serious offense in North Korea, sometimes punished by time in a labor camp. But possession of a film as treasonous as “The Interview” would risk a death sentence. | Being caught with a South Korean show — which glimpses the luxuries across the border — is a serious offense in North Korea, sometimes punished by time in a labor camp. But possession of a film as treasonous as “The Interview” would risk a death sentence. |
| “Sending this movie might put North Koreans in danger as they could be shot to death for watching it,” Kim Hye-sook said. | “Sending this movie might put North Koreans in danger as they could be shot to death for watching it,” Kim Hye-sook said. |
| For now, Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector who has sent anti-regime leaflets across the border in huge balloons, has no plans to try to float the movie into North Korea on USB sticks. | For now, Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector who has sent anti-regime leaflets across the border in huge balloons, has no plans to try to float the movie into North Korea on USB sticks. |
| But he thinks it will have an impact. | But he thinks it will have an impact. |
| “If North Koreans watch this movie, it will open their eyes,” he said. “Their great and respectful leader of the nation is, in fact, just an object of assassination and comedy in the international community. If the supreme power's position is shaken, it could lead the society to crumble.” | |
| Yoonjung Seo in Seoul contributed to this report. | Yoonjung Seo in Seoul contributed to this report. |