Most of the world has probably forgotten The Interview by now, but a group of human rights activists in South Korea want to make sure that their brothers in North Korea never forget the movie and the brave stand that its stars—James Franco and Seth Rogen—made against tyranny. According to The Hollywood Reporter, a North Korean defector named Park Sang-hak—who THR says is at the top of the country’s “hit list”—was caught in South Korea trying to cross the border with “2,000 DVD and USB copies of the movie, plus 300,000 leaflets, American music, and other media meant for delivery to North Korea via hydrogen balloons.”
When the South Korean police stopped them from launching their balloons, the crowd of activists stomped on a poster of Kim Jong Un and “made impassioned speeches in favor of free speech and denounced the repressive North Korean government.” They also (probably) mentioned that everyone should be free to watch whatever middling James Franco/Seth Rogen movie they want, whether it’s The Interview or This Is The End. Not to mention that the North Korean government probably shouldn’t have a “hit list” of people who publicly speak out against it. That would be a good first step.
Human Rights Foundation head Thor Halvorssen wasn’t particularly disappointed in this setback, though, telling THR, “The sun rises tomorrow. And we have a plan.” It’s a good point, since we’re still writing about this protest even though they didn’t manage to pull it off. Assuming they get The A.V. Club in North Korea, they’ll be able to read about it, and maybe that’s enough. They probably don’t get The A.V. Club in North Korea, though, so we can post this: