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Assassination Plot DVD Ballooned To North Korea

Assassination Plot DVD Ballooned To North Korea

Thousands of DVDs of a Hollywood film about a plot to assassinate the North Korean leader have been sent into the country via helium balloon.

North Korean defector-turned-activist Lee Min-Bok said he had undertaken four launches since January, the last being on Saturday.

Each time, he tied bundles of The Interview DVD and anti-Pyongyang leaflets to the balloons, and then released them from the back of a lorry.

"I launched thousands of copies and about a million leaflets on Saturday, near the western part of the border," Mr Lee told AFP news agency.

Pyongyang has described the comedy about a fictional CIA plot to assassinate leader Kim Jong-Un, as a "wanton act of terror" .

Mr Lee carried out the launches secretly at night, in remote areas and, although he was watched by local police, he was not stopped.

"The police would have no right to stop me from doing this," Mr Lee said.

"I am always being tailed by police," he added.

South Korea has asked activists to avoid provoking its neighbour but insisted it cannot act against individuals who have the right to express themselves.

Its Unification Ministry said: "Our stance is that we continue to acknowledge the freedom of individuals to publicise their opinions."

North Korea has been more proactive.

Border guards tried to shoot down one balloon launch last October resulting in an exchange of heavy machine gun fire with guards on the South Korea side.

North Korea have threatened "merciless retaliatory strikes" and issued their own condemnatory statement through their state-run news agency.

"The South Korean puppet authorities are egging despicable confrontational villains on to flock to the areas along the Military Demarcation Line and scatter leaflets slandering the DPRK.

"They are mulling scattering DVDs and USBs containing The Interview, a reactionary film that has been censured worldwide for seriously hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of the DPRK.

"This is the gravest politically-motivated provocation against the DPRK and a de facto declaration of a war against it."

The FBI is accused by Pyongyang of being behind a devastating cyber attack last November on Sony Pictures, the studio behind the film.