Controversy Surrounds 'The Assassin(s)': Calls for "Screening Halt" vs. "Creative Work"

[Anchor]

The conservative opposition is pushing back against the film 'The Assassin(s)', which deals with the fatal shooting of the late First Lady Yuk Young-soo, calling it a "distortion of history." The Park Chung-hee Presidential Memorial Foundation has even called for a halt to screenings, while the production team maintains that they merely "added cinematic imagination."

Reporter Kim Bo-mi has the details.

[Reporter]

[From the movie 'The Assassin(s)': "On the day of the incident, six gunshots rang out at the celebration hall. Whose gun fired the other two?"]

The film 'The Assassin(s)' is based on the fatal shooting of First Lady Yuk Young-soo, wife of former President Park Chung-hee, which took place at a National Liberation Day ceremony on August 15, 1974.

Questioning the government's official announcement at the time—that Mun Se-gwang, a Korean resident in Japan, carried out the crime under directives from North Korea through Chongryon—the film draws on suspicions raised by the media, such as the 'alleged involvement of the former Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA).'

The title, which attaches '(s)' in parentheses, conveys the film's message that Mun Se-gwang might not have been the only shooter.

[Hur JINHO / Director of 'The Assassin(s)': There were too many other figures suspected to be behind this incident, or simply too many unanswered questions...]

However, reactions among moviegoers have included comments like, "Are they suggesting this was former President Park Chung-hee's staged act?" and "They've crossed the line," while the People Power Party released a series of vehement statements condemning it as a "distortion of history."

Leader Jang Dong-hyeok called it "an absurd plot alleging former President Park was behind it" and "on par with a remake of a North Korean propaganda film," while Representative Yoo Yeong-ha, a close aide to former President Park Geun-hye, posted on social media that it was "an immoral act that drives a nail into the hearts of the bereaved family."

One lawmaker even argued that individuals involved in the production should be summoned as witnesses to the National Assembly's parliamentary audit.

While criticizing the movie, the Reform Party also suggested that "it should be left to the collective intelligence of the public."

Yesterday (September 28), the Park Chung-hee Presidential Memorial Foundation demanded a halt to screenings, stating, "Investigation and trial records clearly show that Mun Se-gwang took orders from a Chongryon official."

Director Hur JINHO, who helmed the film, previously said prior to its release, "I thought deeply about it because it is a sensitive subject," and that he "did not reach a specific conclusion."

[Hur JINHO / Director of 'The Assassin(s)': Rather than making a definitive conclusion, I think it is a film that continues to raise questions about the doubts surrounding the actual incident.]

Yesterday, the film's production team issued a statement clarifying, "We reconstructed the narrative based on a historical event while adding cinematic imagination," and asked viewers to "regard it solely as a product of creative fiction with no political intention."

Video Editing by Jeon Mingyu | Design by JUNHO
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.