Condemnation escalated today against an American company which says it has clandestinely made a film in North Korea.
The video, part of the long-running Girls Gone Wild series, shows young North Korean women flashing their breasts in exchange for Mardi Gras beads and is slated to be released next week.
Entitled Girls Gone Wild: Shakin' it Pyongyang Style, the film threatens to stoke a diplomatic row between the United States and the reclusive nuclear-armed Hermit Kingdom.
Its release also imperils close relations between the United States and its South Korean allies, who are aghast at Washington's inability to halt the film's distribution.
Means of Seduction
According to a press release from GGW LLC, the production company behind the Girls Gone Wild franchise, the North Korean version of its series was filmed over a three month period in 2012.
Several different filmmakers were smuggled into the country posing as tourists, and shot the footage in pieces at various locations throughout the nation.
The producers promise "hot sexy co-eds showing off their socialist assets to celebrate the glory of the Great Leader."
In an exclusive interview, GGW founder Joe Francis says his company made an effort to film a cross-section of North Korean society.
"We got tall ones, we got short ones. We got skinny ones....though we don't have any fat ones, obviously," Francis explains.
"Some are just you're average rice paddy working class type. Others are more sophisticated, bunker-dwelling girls. A few were even familiar with electricity and knew what the camera was for!"
Girls Gone Wild recently declared bankruptcy and is counting on its North Korea antics to help shore up its bottom line.
The Worm's Hole
Despite the sensitive diplomatic nature of the film, a State Department spokesperson says the U.S. cannot by law censor the video due to constitutional protections of freedom of speech.
But human rights organizations in the United States and groups representing the Korean-American population have called the video's release be voluntarily withheld.
Criticism is even coming from within the "college party girl flashing for beads video" industry.
Phillip Litt, the CEO of the competing series Girls With Low Self Esteem, says GGW's North Korean stunt is beyond the pale.
"I've done my share of tittle flashing videos," admits Litt. "But honestly I find this one to be and poor taste and just plain exploitative. I can't imagine they got all their waivers signed ethically."
However, Girls Gone Wild founder and CEO Joe Francis rejects these accusations outright.
"Exploitative? Are you kidding me?" protests Francis. "HBO just sent Dennis Rodman to North Korea and he came back saying Kim Jong Un is one of his best friends.
"All I did was film young women's breasts. That's not even the most exploitative thing American entertainment companies have done in North Korea this week."
"Yes okay...so I guess its true, we did pay some of our women with a month's supply of oatmeal for their children. But still...Dennis Rodman? Come on HBO, you're better than that."
