Advertisement

North Korea slams Kim Jong-un assassination comedy as ‘act of terror’

A new Hollywood comedy about an assassination bid on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been slammed by Pyongyang as “wanton act of terror”.

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
A new Hollywood comedy about an assassination bid on North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been slammed by Pyongyang as “wanton act of terror”. Photo: Reuters

North Korea on Wednesday denounced a new Hollywood comedy about an assassination bid on leader Kim Jong-un as a “wanton act of terror” and warned of a “merciless response” unless the US authorities banned the film.

Advertisement

stars Seth Rogen and James Franco as two tabloid TV journalists who land an interview with Kim in Pyongyang and are then tasked by the CIA with killing him.

The film is due to be released in the United States on October 14.

In a statement carried by North Korea’s official KCNA news agency, a foreign ministry spokesman said the film was the work of “gangster moviemakers” and should never be shown.

Advertisement

“The act of making and screening such a movie that portrays an attack on our top leadership... is a most wanton act of terror and act of war, and is absolutely intolerable,” the spokesman said.

In his statement, he called on the US administration to ban the film from being screened and warned that failure to do so would trigger a “resolute and merciless response”.

loading
Advertisement