Megabox Issues Apology and Scraps Remaining 'The Assassin(s)' Merchandise Amid Controversy

Megabox has issued a formal apology over the controversy surrounding its merchandise ticket for the movie "The Assassin(s)" and announced that it will discard all remaining inventory.

Megabox posted an apology on its official social media today, stating, "We sincerely apologize to those who felt uncomfortable and to those who suffered from the pain of that historical incident at the time. We are truly sorry."

Megabox explained the production background, stating, "Our 'Original Ticket' is a free merchandise item provided to moviegoers, and the entire production process is carried out in consultation with the distributor and production company," adding, "The staff produced it using only limited images provided through consultations with the distributor and production company, without having watched the movie in advance."

The company further explained, "We sought to highlight the character and content of the movie by utilizing scenes from the film and poster images, but we failed to deeply consider the gravity and weight of historical tragedies and horrific events."

Previously, Lee Gi-in, interim supreme council member of the Reform Party, released a photo of the "The Assassin(s)" original ticket distributed by Megabox, pointing out, "When you overlay the transparent plate marked with bullet holes on the ticket, the bullet marks overlap with the South Korean flag, a podium, and a figure presumed to be First Lady Yuk Young-soo."

He criticized, "Should a fatal shooting that took lives be turned into a collectible item? Freedom of expression is not a bulletproof shield to block criticism."

People Power Party lawmaker Joo Jin-woo also criticized the item as "unfilial merchandise" and argued that the entire stock should be discarded, while Seoul Mayor Oh Sehun also continued the criticism by calling it "senseless."

Megabox added, "Most of the 'The Assassin(s)' original tickets were exhausted on release day, and the remaining quantities will not be used for customer distribution and will be completely discarded," and stated, "Moving forward when producing original tickets, we will establish internal processes to thoroughly verify the social and ethical impacts regarding historical events and figures."

(Photo: Capture from Reform Party Interim Supreme Council Member Lee Gi-in's Facebook, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.