[Anchor]

The film currently topping the box office, "The Assassin(s)," which depicts the fatal shooting of former First Lady Yuk Young-soo, is facing fierce backlash from the conservative opposition alleging "historical distortion." The Park Chung-hee Presidential Memorial Foundation has gone so far as to demand that screenings be halted, while the filmmakers maintain that they merely "added cinematic imagination."

Kim Bo-mi reports.

[Reporter]

[From the movie 'The Assassin(s)': "On the day of the incident, six gunshots rang out in the ceremony hall. Whose guns did the other two shots come from?"]

The film "The Assassin(s)" is inspired by the fatal shooting of First Lady Yuk Young-soo, wife of former President Park Chung-hee, which occurred during a National Liberation Day ceremony on August 15, 1974.

Casting doubt on the government's announcement at the time that Mun Se-gwang, a Korean resident in Japan, carried out the assassination under North Korean orders via Chongryon (the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan), the film draws on suspicions raised by the media, including allegations of involvement by the former Korean Central Intelligence Agency (KCIA).

The title, which includes the plural marker "s" in parentheses, reflects the film's suggestion that Mun Se-gwang may not have been the sole shooter.

[Hur Jin-ho / Director of 'The Assassin(s)': "Because there were so many other figures suspected to be behind this incident, or so many unanswered questions..."]

However, some moviegoers reacted critically, asking, "Are they claiming this was staged by former President Park Chung-hee himself?" and saying, "This crosses the line." The People Power Party also released heated statements denouncing the film as "historical distortion."

Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok called it an "absurd storyline suggesting former President Park was behind it," remarking that "it is on par with a remake of a North Korean propaganda film." Representative Yoo Young-ha, a close confidant of former President Park Geun-hye, posted on social media calling it "an immoral act that drives a nail into the hearts of the bereaved family."

Some lawmakers even argued for summoning the filmmakers as witnesses for the National Assembly's parliamentary audit.

The Reform Party, while also criticizing the film, took the view that the matter should be "left to the collective intelligence of the public."

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

Director Hur Jin-ho had previously shared his stance before the release, saying, "I thought long and hard because it is a sensitive subject," and that "it does not reach a definitive conclusion."

[Hur Jin-ho / Director of 'The Assassin(s)': "Rather than drawing a conclusion, I view it as a film that continually raises questions about the unresolved doubts surrounding what actually happened."]

Yesterday, the film's production team issued a statement saying, "We reconstructed the story by adding cinematic imagination to a historical event," asking audiences to "view it purely as a product of creative work with no political intent."

(Video by Jeon Mingyu | Design by JUNHO)