Activists Planning to Balloon Drop 100,000 Copies of ‘The Interview’ into North Korea

A North Korean defector is partnering with the Human Rights Campaign to pull off the stunt next month

If you thought Sony’s U.S. release of “The Interview” was unconventional, wait until you hear how it’s going to be distributed in North Korea.

Activist Park Sang-hak, a North Korean defector, is teaming up with the Human Rights Foundation, a U.S. non-profit organization, to deliver 100,000 DVDs and USBs of the Seth RogenJames Franco comedy across the border from South Korea by balloon.

“North Korea’s absolute leadership will crumble if the idolization of leader Kim [Jong-un] breaks down,” Park told the Associated Press.

The Human Rights Foundation is reportedly supplying the DVDs and USB memory sticks of the movie with Korean subtitles, but has not yet responded to TheWrap‘s request for comment.

The organization has been active in speaking out against Kim Jong-un’s dictatorship, and launched the #HackThemBack campaign on Dec. 19, which aimed to raise $250,000 to flood North Korea with films, books, educational materials, and equipment from the outside world as an alternative to the propaganda created by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

While the U.S. government has blamed North Korea for the cyberattack on “The Interview” distributor Sony Pictures Entertainment, security firm Norse Corp alleged that it has identified six individuals involved, including one former Sony employee based in America, as well as participants from Canada, Thailand and Singapore.

Park told the AP that foundation officials plan to visit South Korea around Jan. 20 to hand over the DVDs and USBs, and that he and the officials will then try to float the first batch of the balloons if weather conditions allow.

It wouldn’t be the first time the organization used balloons to air drop materials across the border, either. HRF says it began partnering with defectors in 2009 to do so.

“In 2013, the North Korean government threatened to kill HRF staff for floating several balloons packed with alternative opinions across the DMZ,” HRF president Thor Halvorssen previously said in a statement. “At that time, the South Korean government, behaving like Sony, stopped our activities by deploying police power. We successfully marshaled public opinion against the banning of balloon launches; now, the government no longer bans the launches.”

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