North Korea is lashing out at an upcoming Hollywood comedy that depicts an assassination attempt against authoritarian leader Kim Jong Un.
The Interview stars Seth Rogen and James Franco, who play celebrity journalists recruited by the CIA to kill Kim after they secure an interview with him.
A Pyongyang foreign ministry spokesman on Wednesday called the film "undisguised terrorism" and a "despicable move to hurt the dignity of the supreme leadership" of North Korea.
If the U.S. allows the "absolutely intolerable" film to be released in October, as planned, he said the North will consider this an "act of war," and vowed a "strong and merciless countermeasure."
The spokesman's comments appeared in the state-run Korean Central News Agency, which regularly publishes threats against the U.S. and South Korea for perceived insults to the North's leadership.
Last week, Kim Myong-chol, who heads the Japan-based Center for North Korea-US Peace and is seen as an unofficial spokesman for Pyongyang, said the movie shows the "desperation of the U.S. government and American society."
But Kim told The Telegraph that the North Korean leader would probably watch the film anyway. Rogen, one of the film's co-stars, responded on Twitter, saying he hopes Kim enjoys the movie.
