"Director of 'The Assassin(s)' Must Appear at Audit" vs. "Infringement on Creative Freedom"

[Anchor]

Political clashes over the film "The Assassin(s)" are growing increasingly heated. When the People Power Party argued that Director Hur JINHO, who directed the movie, should be summoned to the parliamentary audit, the Democratic Party countered that creative freedom must not be infringed upon and instead proposed watching the film together as a group.

Reporter Park Jae-yeon reports.

[Reporter]

The National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee today (September 29).

The People Power Party demanded that Director Hur JINHO, who directed the film "The Assassin(s)," be summoned to the parliamentary audit, at least as a reference witness.

[Cho Eun-hee / People Power Party Lawmaker: If someone made a film based on the tragic death of former President Roh Moo-hyun alleging the involvement of his family or close associates behind the scenes, could that really be called cinematic imagination...?]

They argued that the film's premise suggesting there could be another mastermind behind the shooting of former First Lady Yuk Young-soo is defamation against the deceased and the bereaved family, pointing out that there was also a precedent last year when the director of the film "The Birth of Korea" was adopted as a reference witness during the parliamentary audit.

[Kim Seung-soo / People Power Party Lawmaker: (Wasn't it made) intentionally so that young adolescents as young as 12 could misunderstand this as the truth?]

On the other hand, the Democratic Party made clear its opposition citing freedom of expression, stating that the adaptation of historical facts falls within the realm of creative work.

[Choi Minhee / Democratic Party Lawmaker: Even if the National Assembly cannot encourage Director Hur Jun-ho for giving us such enjoyment and creating such a rich work of culture and art in our tough lives.]

They also suggested a group viewing, saying that evaluating the film should be left to the public, not politicians.

[Jin SUNMI / Democratic Party Lawmaker: How about the Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee go watch the movie together as a group and create an opportunity to discuss it seriously?]

With opinions sharply divided between "cinematic imagination" and "distortion of facts," Director Hur was not adopted as a reference witness for the parliamentary audit.

Meanwhile, controversy continues as the Northern Gyeonggi Center for Discharged Veterans Support under the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs sought to offer free screenings of the film to discharged veterans and others, only to cancel the plan following pushback from some quarters.

Video by Oh Young-choon and Kim Yong-woo | Video Editing by Oh Young-taek
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.