[Anchor]
At the National Assembly's ongoing parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the ruling and opposition parties are clashing over the film 'The Assassin(s).' Amid an offensive by the People Power Party demanding government intervention on grounds that the movie instills a flawed view of history, the Democratic Party criticized the move as "anachronistic political censorship."
Reporter Kim Jin-u reports.
[Reporter]
At the National Assembly Education Committee's audit of the Ministry of Education, which began this morning (October 7), the ruling and opposition parties clashed over the film 'The Assassin(s),' which deals with the assassination of former First Lady Yuk Young-soo.
People Power Party lawmakers pointed out that the film could instill a distorted historical perspective in students.
[Jung Sung-kook / People Power Party Lawmaker: "It is rooted in a third-rate conspiracy theory that implies it could have been staged by former President Park Chung-hee and the Korean Central Intelligence Agency."]
In response to concerns raised by People Power Party lawmakers asking whether the Ministry of Education should intervene in students' group viewings of the film, Minister of Education Choi Kyo-jin replied that there are limits to government intervention.
[Choi Kyo-jin / Minister of Education: "I believe it is educationally necessary to help students understand and distinguish between fact and fiction."]
Pan-ruling camp lawmakers pushed back, arguing that it is inappropriate for political circles to demand censorship of a movie.
[Kang Kyoung-sook / Rebuilding Korea Party Lawmaker: "The National Assembly is not a film censorship committee. The People Power Party is mobilizing its entire party strength over a single movie."]
In the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, the ruling and opposition parties also clashed over whether to summon the film's production crew, including director Hur Jin-ho, as audit witnesses.
[Kim Seok-ki / People Power Party Lawmaker: "Shouldn't we summon them directly to ask whether they intended to instill this flawed perception of history?"]
[Noh Jong-myeon / Democratic Party Lawmaker: "Is it really acceptable to summon creators to the National Assembly to interrogate, question, and scrutinize them?"]
When asked whether the film constitutes historical distortion, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-young said, "I believe it is an issue for the public and audiences to judge."
[Choi Hwi-young / Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism: "I hold the view that there should be no restrictions on imagination and creation."]
During the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee's audit, calls were also raised to reexamine the military service exemption system for athletes, which has recently sparked controversy.
(Video by Lee Seung-hwan and Shin Dong-hwan | Video Editing by Yu Mi-ra)
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