North Korea says Americans are gangsters, threatens US imperialists with final doom

#northkorea #DPRK #theinterview #cyberwarfare North Korea has warned the United States that it will repel any aggression by the "gangster-like" Americans by using conventional weapons, nuclear strikes and cyber warfare. This threat had been made by the National Defense Commission (NDC) which is North Korea's top military organization. It has also ruled out face-to-face negotiations with Washington.
The headline of the statement is "US imperialists will face final doom" and observers feel it is a sort of reaction to what US president Barack Obama had said last month. At that time, he had described North Korea as the "most cut-off nation on Earth" and also mentioned about the regime's eventual collapse.
The DPRK feels humiliated by the remarks of President Obama and has said that in view of the fact that the gangster-like US imperialists are blaring that they will 'bring down' the DPRK (North Korea) ... the army and people of the DPRK cannot but officially notify the Obama administration ... that the DPRK has neither need nor willingness to sit at negotiating table with the US any longer. This has been reported in news.sky.com dated 4 February 2015.
It has gone on to add that North Korea was capable of bringing about the "final ruin of the US" with its "precision and diversified nuclear striking means". It does have expertise to carry out cyber warfare as was witnessed in the hacking of Sony Pictures movie ‘The Interview’.
The statement of North Korea comes weeks before the beginning of annual US-South Korea military exercises – this annual exercise gives rise to increase in tensions in the divided peninsula.

Pyongyang cannot prevent airdrop of ‘The Interview’ bomb

#balloonbomb #pyongyang #TheInterview #KimJongUn The Sony movie ‘The Interview’, a spoof on North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un and his assignation had created tension with the United States and, Sony Pictures, after much hesitation finally released it in America. However, the international tensions over the movie may not end soon.
A South Korean activist Park Sang-hak has decided to make it available to the people of North Korea. He plans to pass on the Seth Rogen/James Franco comedy directly to the isolated country. His plan is to airdrop 100,000 DVDs and thumb drives containing the movie over North Korea as early as January.
These would be carried out clandestinely, the pace would pick up in March, when he expects wind direction to be more favorable.
He has revealed that the absolute leadership of North Korea would crumble if the idolization of leader Kim breaks down. Park wants to make the people of North Korea to become more aware of the world they live in. In order to accomplish the cinematic airdrop and pass on the message, he is expected to rope in the U.S. nonprofit the Human Rights Foundation which is an "organization that promotes and protects human rights globally, with a focus on closed societies."
Of course, given the ground realities in North Korea, it is not known how effective this balloon-airdrop project would be. Many people in the country may not have access to a computer, however access to televisions and DVD players is believed to be more widespread. Hence, that could be used.

Sony releases ‘The Interview’ – movie-goers are delighted

#theinterview #kimjongun #christmasday Initial plans of Sony Pictures was to release ‘The Interview’, a spoof on the murder of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un, in over 3000 movie theaters – but, it finally was released in 300 movie houses on Christmas Day. And – the public have loved it and are delighted.
In the opinion of the critics and early viewers, while "The Interview" is certainly not a masterpiece, but due to the prelaunch attention it received due to threats from hackers, the movie has become an event.
Many movie halls have made special holiday arrangements for the Seth Rogen-James Franco comedy depicting the assassination of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. Sony Pictures had initially called off the release after major theater chains dropped the movie that was to have opened on as many as 3,000 screens.
But when President Barack Obama criticized the decision of Sony, its officials reconsidered and changed their minds and the movie became available on a variety of digital platforms like Google Play, YouTube Movies, Microsoft's Xbox Video and a separate Sony website.
It is reported that Kim Song, a North Korean diplomat to the United Nations, has condemned the release and has remarked that it is "unpardonable mockery of our sovereignty and dignity of our supreme leader."
However, one spectator has suggested that as many people as possible should see it and the government should subsidize tickets. "The Interview" was not a great movie but, no one should go to see it expecting it to be a serious commentary on politics - it's fun.

Sony cancels release of The Interview - a film on North Korea’s Kim Jong-Un

#TheInterview #KimJongUn The film ‘The Interview’ is made by Sony and is one that mocks the regime of North Korea and its leader Kim Jong-Un. It was scheduled to be released in the United States on Christmas Day but, that has been put on hold.
The reason is that studio of Sony suffered a damaging cyber-attack and it had no other option but to pull out The Interview, because cinema chains across the US had backed away from showing the film.
The film depicts a plot to assassinate North Korean leader #KimJongUn and stars Seth Rogen and James Franco. As per reports, the group that claimed responsibility for the cyber-attack had made terrorist threats against US cinemas if they went ahead and showed the movie.
U S President Barack Obama has criticized this decision of Sony and remarked that he believed the studio had "made a mistake". He minced no words when he said that there cannot be a society in which some dictatorship someplace can start imposing censorship.
The decision of Sony has been criticized by celebrities and film makers as well.
Sony has clarified that it has only cancelled the Christmas Day release and is exploring alternatives to release the film on another platform and hopes that anyone who wants to see this movie will get the opportunity to do so.
It seems the FBI is of the opinion that the hacking had been done by North Korea and has termed it as an act of state-sponsored "intimidation" but Pyongyang has denied it. Of course, a North Korean diplomat said that the film affected the image of their country.