South Korean protestors win their way - DAD is pulled from cinemas

12-Jan-2002 • Die Another Day

Reuters are reporting that South Korean activists have rallied at scores of theatres to block "Die Another Day" in a protest that has prompted 10 out of 50 cinemas in Seoul to pull the film early.

DAD opened on December 31 to inflamed passions on both sides of the Korean border because of scenes that protesters say vilify communist North Korea and offend the South`s national pride.

Protesters were so angry they ignored or even praised North Korea`s defiant exit on Saturday from a global treaty preventing the spread of nuclear weapons.

While much of the world worried on Saturday about North Korea`s pullout from the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, South Korean leftists staged boycott protests at scores of theatres.

At Daehan theatre in central Seoul, a dozen college students sang songs calling for Korean unification and denouncing the United States.

They carried placards saying "Stop Playing 007", "Be Alert, Arrogant America", and "Let`s not watch the 007 film which stirs up a war crisis in Korea".

North Korea, embroiled in a nuclear standoff with Washington, has called the film a "dirty and cursed burlesque" that showcased U.S. enmity for the North, whose leader Kim Jong-il is a cinema buff and reportedly a fan of James Bond films.

"When a crisis is escalating on the Korean peninsula, playing a movie that depicts having a war in Korea and American and British military officials attacking the North is a huge problem," said Kang Hyung-goo, director of the Unification Alliance Peace Committee, which organised the rally.

"I have not seen the movie because I oppose the idea of showing the film these days, considering what is going on now," said Seoul office worker Sung Hyo-jin.

"However, I don`t feel threatened by North Korea`s nuclear programme. Rather, I`m proud of North Korea, which has the guts to stand up to the United States," said 30-year-old Sung as he waited in line for another film.

"Die Another Day" lured 426,200 viewers on its first weekend amid criticism and the mounting boycott, but the Daehan theatre operator said it was cutting back on showings.

"We have been cutting the number of showings daily, and because of what is currently going on and the simmering public opinion, we have decided to stop playing the movie soon," said a manager at Daehan theatre.

North Korea`s official news agency has slammed the film as proof of the hostile U.S. intentions towards a country Washington believes is building nuclear weapons.