Park Hae-il Attends BIFF Event for Debut Film Despite Cancellation of 'The Assassin(s)' Schedule Amid Security Threats

Actor Park Hae-il attended an event for his film debut despite the full cancellation of the Busan International Film Festival schedule for the movie The Assassin(s).

Park attended the 31st Busan International Film Festival Community BIFF event held at Megabox Busan Cinema in Jung-gu, Busan, on October 8 as the lead actor of Waikiki Brothers. The event was organized to mark the 30th anniversary of director Yim Soon-rye's feature film debut, and Park took the stage alongside the director.

After greeting the audience, Park showed affection by saying, "I even got to see Bukangi." During the conversation with the audience that followed the film screening, he expressed his deep attachment to his debut film, Waikiki Brothers, and shared stories about the filming process and episodes involving director Yim Soon-rye.

At the event, Park shared his thoughts on cinema, saying, "Where a film will take a person like me, what emotions it will bring, and what thoughts, directions, and reflections on life it will evoke in the viewers... Cinema itself feels like a truly mysterious and unknowable entity to me."

A former stage actor, Park made his film debut in 2001 with Waikiki Brothers and has since been active as one of South Korea's representative actors.

Park had originally planned to attend the Busan International Film Festival alongside the director and fellow actors for his new film The Assassin(s). However, related events were completely canceled in the wake of recent controversies surrounding historical distortion. This came after some members of conservative organizations staged protests by visiting the home of actor Yoo Hai-jin. Nevertheless, regardless of the cancellation of The Assassin(s) events, Park attended the scheduled audience event for Waikiki Brothers, upholding his loyalty to director Yim Soon-rye.

Despite the controversy, The Assassin(s) surpassed 3 million moviegoers nationwide within 20 days of its release.

(Photo: SBS Entertainment News, by Kim Ji-hye)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.