Amid escalating tensions—including the exposure of a cast member's home address and announcements of planned protest rallies—all schedules related to the film "The Assassin(s)" at the Busan International Film Festival, South Korea's largest film event, have been canceled.

On October 2, organizers of the 31st Busan International Film Festival announced through their official social media channels, "We inform you that the opening ceremony attendance and outdoor stage greeting events for the 31st Busan International Film Festival have been canceled at the request of the production company of 'The Assassin(s).'" They continued, "The Busan International Film Festival respects the decision of the production company, which took into account the safety of audiences and guests as well as the smooth operation of the event. We ask for the understanding of audience members who have been waiting for these schedules."

Director Hur Jin-ho and actors Yoo Hai-jin, Park Hae-il, and Lee Minho were originally scheduled to attend the outdoor stage greeting for "The Assassin(s)." The "Actors' House: Lee Minho" event, which was scheduled to be held on the same day, was canceled prior to this announcement.

"The Assassin(s)" is a film inspired by the August 15, 1974 assassination of First Lady Yuk Young-soo, tracking the suspicions and forces behind the incident. Following its theatrical release on September 23, excessive criticism and attacks targeting the cast members have continued, largely led by conservative groups. The controversy has widened as the home address of an actor was exposed to the public and protest rallies in residential neighborhoods were announced.

Pressure has also mounted against other content covering the incident. The YouTube channel "Maebul Show" made a video featuring history storyteller Sun Kim (real name Kim Sunyoung) addressing the assassination of First Lady Yuk Young-soo private. Host Choi Wook stated during a live broadcast on October 1, "The guest has received an overwhelming number of threatening emails. They reached out to us saying they felt a threat to their personal safety, so we ultimately made the video private to protect the guest."

Film critic Lee Dong-jin also deleted his review content for "The Assassin(s)" at the request of the production company after facing an onslaught of criticism. However, he made his position clear that he has no intention of apologizing for the content of his critique.

(SBS Entertainment News | Kang Kyung-youn)