SEOUL: A North Korean defector living in South Korea said on Wednesday he has launched balloons carrying thousands of copies of the film “The Interview” to North Korea, despite protests from the isolated country and e-mailed death threats.

North Korea has denounced the Hollywood comedy featuring a fictional plot to assassinate the country’s leader Kim Jong Un as an act of war and threatened retaliation if the film was released.

Lee Min-bok, a defector who left the North 20 years ago, said he had sent DVD copies of the film, dollar notes and anti-North leaflets in satchels tied to helium-filled balloons on four occasions, most recently on Saturday.

The launch of leaflets infuriates Pyongyang and has in recent months threatened to scuttle negotiations between the two Koreas. South Korean authorities have urged activists to refrain from launching leaflets on safety grounds, but say they have no legal grounds to stop them.