Why N. Korea turned outrage knob to 11 over ‘The Interview’

TOKYO — If the U.S. government’s claim is correct that North Korea was involved in the unprecedented hack attack on Sony Pictures that scuttled Seth Rogen’s latest comedy, no one can say they weren’t warned. The movie, “The Interview,” pushed all of North Korea’s buttons.

No country would welcome a movie portraying the glib and graphic assassination of its leader.

But nowhere could it be expected to generate more official outrage and possible reprisals than in North Korea, home to the world’s most intense cult of personality, where even the hint of criticism of the ruling Kim dynasty can mean a long stint in prison and where it’s a serious offense to merely crumple up a newspaper with any of the leaders’ images.

North Korea’s reaction to “The Interview” was swift and loud.

Way back in June, it warned there would be severe repercussions for anyone involved in the film, which portrays the assassination of Kim Jong Un for the CIA by two American journalists. When rumors began to circulate that North Korea was behind the hack, it was quick to deny it ordered the attack, but suggested it was a “righteous deed” carried out by sympathizers abroad.

Strengthening suspicions that North Korea’s involvement might have been deeper, a U.S. official said Wednesday that federal investigators have connected the hacking to the North. A security professional with knowledge of the breach said investigators had strong circumstantial evidence and technical commonalities pointing to North Korea. Both spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation.

Bernadette Meehan, National Security Council spokeswoman, said the United States was “considering a range of options” in response.

Though Washington has yet to officially lay out its case, Hajime Izumi, a leading Japanese expert on North Korea and a professor at Shizuoka University, said the film crossed a red line for North Korea because it struck at the country’s biggest taboo: criticism of its supreme leader. Suppression of such criticism is vital to the very survival of the regime.

“They can’t allow that,” he said. “I think their response was fairly predictable.”

Mockery of North Korea’s leaders in the West is hardly new or unusual. A decade ago, the musical farce “Team America: World Police” had Kim’s father, Kim Jong Il, turning into a cockroach.

Viral Kim memes are rife on the Internet and Hollywood has in recent years turned to North Koreans as the villains de jour. The 2012 remake of “Red Dawn” and last year’s “Olympus Has Fallen” were both about North Korean attacks on the United States.

North Korea has not always taken the bait: “Team America” got a rather toothless response. Izumi said its more furious reaction to “The Interview” could suggest a growing lack of confidence in its ability to keep illegal copies of foreign movies from being smuggled across its borders and viewed by ordinary North Koreans.

Further, because the film didn’t merely mock Kim Jong Un but portrayed his assassination — he dies in a fiery explosion set to a rendition of the Katy Perry song “Firework” — North Korea might have felt the need to respond with more than just words.

A cyberattack, harder to trace and less likely to provoke a direct response than, for instance, bombing a theater, would be a powerful but less risky means of sending a message that North Korea does not want to be taken lightly, whether it be over the portrayal of its leader or any perceived threat to its regime. And a severe response from Washington is unlikely because North Korea is already subject to heavy international sanctions.

Even if North Korea is not to blame for the hacking, as it contends, the perception that it is capable of such an attack is a win for the regime.

North Korea, isolated and still technically at war with the United States, has more than its share of hot-button issues.

Vitriolic outbursts of rage against the United States, South Korea and Japan have for decades been a mainstay of North Korea’s state-run media, along with endless praise of the Kims — national founder Kim Il Sung, his son Kim Jong Il and now Kim Jong Un — as peerless leaders who enjoy nothing but the undying love and devotion of their nation.

But since Kim Jong Un assumed power in late 2011, North Korea has responded with what some U.S. officials have called “hyper-reactions” in several standoffs with Washington, including a rapid escalation of tensions following its rocket launch and nuclear test last year and, over the past couple of months, a U.N. resolution that could in theory open the door for its leaders — including Kim — to be hauled before the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity.

The feeling is that North Korea’s ruling regime, wary of what it sees as an effort by the U.S. to test the relatively young and inexperienced Kim Jong Un, has been overcompensating to demonstrate its unwillingness to be cowed or coerced.

“I don’t think they would have reacted this way to a movie in the days of his father,” said Izumi.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Local News

A firefighter stands in silence before a panel bearing the names of L. John Regelbrugge and Kris Regelbrugge during the ten-year remembrance of the Oso landslide on Friday, March 22, 2024, at the Oso Landslide Memorial in Oso, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
‘Flood of emotions’ as Oso Landslide Memorial opens on 10th anniversary

Friends, family and first responders held a moment of silence at 10:37 a.m. at the new 2-acre memorial off Highway 530.

Julie Petersen poses for a photo with images of her sister Christina Jefferds and Jefferds’ grand daughter Sanoah Violet Huestis next to a memorial for Sanoah at her home on March 20, 2024 in Arlington, Washington. Peterson wears her sister’s favorite color and one of her bangles. (Annie Barker / The Herald)
‘It just all came down’: An oral history of the Oso mudslide

Ten years later, The Daily Herald spoke with dozens of people — first responders, family, survivors — touched by the deadliest slide in U.S. history.

Victims of the Oso mudslide on March 22, 2014. (Courtesy photos)
Remembering the 43 lives lost in the Oso mudslide

The slide wiped out a neighborhood along Highway 530 in 2014. “Even though you feel like you’re alone in your grief, you’re really not.”

Director Lucia Schmit, right, and Deputy Director Dara Salmon inside the Snohomish County Department of Emergency Management on Friday, March 8, 2024, in Everett, Washington. (Ryan Berry / The Herald)
How Oso slide changed local emergency response ‘on virtually every level’

“In a decade, we have just really, really advanced,” through hard-earned lessons applied to the pandemic, floods and opioids.

Ron and Gail Thompson at their home on Monday, March 4, 2024 in Oso, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
In shadow of scarred Oso hillside, mudslide’s wounds still feel fresh

Locals reflected on living with grief and finding meaning in the wake of a catastrophe “nothing like you can ever imagine” in 2014.

Everett mall renderings from Brixton Capital. (Photo provided by the City of Everett)
Topgolf at the Everett Mall? Mayor’s hint still unconfirmed

After Cassie Franklin’s annual address, rumors circled about what “top” entertainment tenant could be landing at Everett Mall.

Everett
Everett man sentenced to 3 years of probation for mutilating animals

In 2022, neighbors reported Blayne Perez, 35, was shooting and torturing wildlife in north Everett.

Dorothy Crossman rides up on her bike to turn in her ballot  on Tuesday, Aug. 1, 2023 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Everett leaders plan to ask voters for property tax increase

City officials will spend weeks hammering out details of a ballot measure, as Everett faces a $12.6 million deficit.

Starbucks employee Zach Gabelein outside of the Mill Creek location where he works on Friday, Feb. 23, 2024 in Mill Creek, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Mill Creek Starbucks votes 21-1 to form union

“We obviously are kind of on the high of that win,” store bargaining delegate Zach Gabelein said.

Lynnwood police respond to a collision on highway 99 at 176 street SW. (Photo provided by Lynnwood Police)
Southbound lanes on Highway 99 reopen after crash

The crash, on Highway 99 at 176th Street SW, blocked traffic for over an hour. Traffic was diverted to 168th Street SW.

The view of Mountain Loop Mine out the window of a second floor classroom at Fairmount Elementary on Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024 in Everett, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
County: Everett mining yard violated order to halt work next to school

At least 10 reports accused OMA Construction of violating a stop-work order next to Fairmount Elementary. A judge will hear the case.

Imagine Children's Museum's incoming CEO, Elizabeth "Elee" Wood. (Photo provided by Imagine Children's Museum)
Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett to welcome new CEO

Nancy Johnson, who has led Imagine Children’s Museum in Everett for 25 years, will retire in June.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.