'Assassin(s)' Producers: "No Intent to Distort History"... Park Chung-hee Foundation Demands Screening Halt

Cumulative Audience Reaches 1.63 Million
Ranks Second at the Box Office

Still from the movie "Assassin(s)". Provided by Hive Media Corp.

The production team of the movie "Assassin(s)", which is based on the incident involving First Lady Yuk Young-soo, stated on September 28 that the film "was not created to establish a new historical conclusion or to deny or distort existing facts."

The team released a statement that day, explaining, "This feature film is inspired by the historical event that occurred in 1974. It reconstructs the story by combining cinematic imagination with various records related to the incident at the time." They said that they researched public records and materials, books, and documentaries, and created the story by adding fictional characters and situations to real-life events and figures.

They added, "At no point in the movie is a particular person identified as being behind the incident. The film’s hypotheses and dramatic settings are not presented as historical facts." The statement continued, "As the film is based on a historical event and real people, there may be various interpretations and criticisms. However, it is not a film produced for any specific political purpose."

"Assassin(s)", which was released on September 23, is based on the incident that occurred on August 15, 1974, when Second-Generation Korean-Japanese Moon Se-gwang opened fire targeting President Park Chung-hee, resulting in the fatal shooting of First Lady Yuk Young-soo. The film follows the stories of characters who investigate the mysteries surrounding this case.

Yoo Hae-jin plays a detective, Park Hae-il plays the head of the social affairs department at a newspaper, and Lee Minho appears as a rookie reporter. The movie is directed by Hur Jinho, who also directed "Christmas in August" (1998), and produced by Hive Media Corp., the company behind "The Man Standing Next" (2020) and "12.12: The Day" (2023).

The controversy arose as the movie presents hypotheses that some individuals close to then-President Park Chung-hee or the Korean Central Intelligence Agency may have been involved in the incident. Although the film does not present these as established facts, some members of the People Power Party criticized it as historical distortion, arguing that it uses real names to address unfounded suspicions that have not been substantiated.

On the same day, the Park Chung-hee Presidential Memorial Foundation also released a statement, expressing "deep regret and strong condemnation of acts of distorting this historical tragedy, which caused irreparable pain to former President Park Chung-hee and his family." The foundation further demanded that "the film’s production company formally apologize for distorting historical facts and immediately halt the screening of the movie."

According to the integrated box office information system of the Korean Film Council on September 29, "Assassin(s)" drew 67,406 viewers the previous day, ranking second at the box office. "Tazza: The Song of Beelzebub" was in first place with 68,913 viewers, making for a difference of 1,507 between the two films.

"Assassin(s)" maintained the number one spot at the box office for five consecutive days after its release, recording a cumulative audience of 1,633,621 as of September 28. During the Chuseok holiday period from September 24 to 27, it attracted 1,407,636 viewers. Four days after release, by the 26th, cumulative attendance surpassed 1 million, and by the 27th, the total had reached 1,566,222.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.