"Never Even Thought of Park Chung-hee Assassination Conspiracy"... The Assassin(s) Director Speaks Out Directly

Regarding the controversy surrounding the suspicion that former President Park Chung-hee was behind the events depicted in the film The Assassin(s), Director Hur Jin-ho has directly addressed the issue, stating, "Such suspicions are an area I never even thought of."

In interviews with MBC and the Chosun Ilbo, Director Hur stated, "I don't think former President Park would have ordered the shooting of his wife," adding that the notion "he told them to kill his own wife" was unacceptable.

He went on to ask, "There is nowhere in the film suggesting that former President Park ordered the shooting of First Lady Yuk Young-su," and added, "Former President Park could have been hit by the gunfire himself, so how could he have planned such a self-staged plot?"

He expressed frustration over accusations of "historical distortion," explaining that the portrayal of the "higher-ups" in the movie merely referred to power struggles within the Korean Central Intelligence Agency and was not directed at the president.

To the question of whether he intentionally left the issue open rather than drawing a clear line regarding the assassination conspiracy surrounding former President Park, he expressed regret, saying, "I didn't think I needed to include such a thing," and "Looking back now, I wonder if I should have made it clearer."

Despite the director's explanation, political battles surrounding the issue appear to be intensifying further.

The conservative bloc maintains its stance on filing a complaint, asking, "If it were about former President Roh Moo-hyun's tragic death, could you call a conspiracy theory involving a family's mastermind a matter of cinematic imagination?" and criticizing that "it glamorized a conspiracy theory as if it were the truth, fueling public misunderstanding."

Despite the fierce controversy, the film The Assassin(s) has maintained its position at No. 1 at the box office, recording a cumulative audience of 1.69 million as of 7:00 a.m. today (September 30).

Amidst this, a peculiar phenomenon is unfolding on portal sites, with "rating bombings" against the movie clashing head-on with favorable reviews from audiences. Regardless of its box office success, the controversy surrounding the acceptable boundaries of imagination regarding historical events is expected to continue for some time.

(Reported by Lee Hyeon-yeong | Video by Jang Yu-jin | Graphics by Lee Su-min | Produced by SBS Digital News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.