North Korea condemns Korean War movie

SEOUL, Aug. 19 (UPI) -- North Korea slammed Operation Chromite on Friday, calling the South Korean film starring Liam Neeson an example of anti-Pyongyang media.

The North Korean statement from the Korean Filmmakers Union Central Committee mostly blamed the South Korean president.

"After taking power, the Park Geun-hye faction has been squandering the South Korean people's taxes, paid by the sweat of their brow, in order to screen on a large scale films that stir up infighting among a unitary people," read the North Korean statement on KCTV and Pyongyang Broadcasting.

Pyongyang accused Seoul of funding the film, although production was handled by Taewon Entertainment, a private company.

The action movie depicts Gen. Douglas MacArthur's role in planning the U.S.-led Incheon Landing during the 1950-53 Korean War.

The MacArthur strategy worked to push back the North Korean advance in September 1950 and marked a turning point in the war. North Korea and the United States eventually signed an armistice agreeing to a cease-fire in July 1953.

This is not the first time North Korea has condemned a film with Hollywood actors.

In 2014, North Korea criticized the movie The Interview for its depiction of a Kim Jong Un assassination. Before Sony Pictures released the movie in late 2014, a group hacked the computer networks of the company.

The United States has said the hack was of North Korean origin.

On Friday, North Korea scolded South Korean film producers for failing to produce cinema that "promotes the Korean people's excellence and Korea's long and splendid culture."

In July, Neeson had said he is worried about possible threats that may follow the film's release.

"North Korea and South Korea signed an armistice in 1953 and both countries are still essentially at war. It's a horrifying situation and in light of very recent events [such as the Sony hack] we are all, not just as filmmakers, but as citizens of this world, very concerned," Neeson had said.