20 Things You Didn't Know About Die Another Day
19. “And Now The Hardliners Have Their Proof: We Cannot Trust The West!”
Usually, it is only the older Bond films that have battled embarrassing accusations of xenophobia. However, alongside the plot of Asian characters transforming themselves into Caucasians, Die Another Day faced these accusations during both its production and its release.
Numerous Korean performers turned the movie down on account of its tone, including Cha In-pyo who declined the part of Colonel Tan-Sun Moon. Eventually, American-Korean actors, Will Yun Lee and Rick Yune played Colonel Moon and Zao respectively, whilst Hong Kong actor, Kenneth Tsang portrayed General Moon.
The North Koreans were not keen on being depicted as warmongers intent on world domination, whilst the South Koreans boycotted the film because US General Chandler (producer, Michael G. Wilson) issued orders to their troops, implying that their nation was an American outpost.
The film’s international distributor, 20th Century Fox and actor Rick Yune tried to smooth the waters by describing the film’s villains as an ultra-right-wing cabal of North Korean army officers intent on world domination. However, Lee Tamahori sadly undid all of this by describing North Korea as “a basket-case country and the sooner its leaders all roll over and die, the better”.
Not helping matters was the final scene of the film, in which James Bond romances Jinx inside a Buddhist temple, culturally offending both nations.