The cast of The Assassin(s), South Korea's top movie, will skip the opening ceremony and an outdoor fan event at next week's Busan International Film Festival. Distributor Hive Media Corp announced the move Friday, citing safety. It also canceled all 49 stage greetings set for Oct. 3–5 at 12 theaters. Director Hur Jin-ho's thriller revisits the 1974 killing of First Lady Yuk Young-soo. A North Korea-linked gunman, Mun Se-gwang, fired at President Park Chung Hee during a ceremony in Seoul and killed Park's wife. Investigators concluded Mun acted on North Korean orders. The film follows a detective and reporters who suspect Park's own government was involved. It opened Sept. 23 and sold 1.82 million tickets through Thursday. A conservative activist has announced protests outside star Yoo Hae-jin's home through October. Burger King took Yoo's ad off its homepage Friday.

1. The Film Smears Park and His Murdered Wife

Conservative lawmakers and Park's memorial foundation say the movie defames the dead and misleads young viewers.

Conservatives say the movie hurts a grieving family. The People Power Party is South Korea's conservative opposition. People Power Party Rep. Joo Jin-woo said, "This isn't creative liberty. It's a morally reprehensible offense that causes immense pain to the bereaved family." Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok called the plot "a truly absurd story." He asked, "Does freedom of expression only belong to the left?" He also shared a boycott post online.

They say young viewers will take it as fact. People Power Party lawmaker Kim Seung-soo asked whether the film was "made intentionally so that young teenagers aged 12 might misunderstand this as the truth." The party's chief spokesperson, Park Seong-hun, called it "historical distortion and political agitation that exceeds the limits of cinematic imagination and freedom of expression." People Power Party Rep. Na Kyung-won said leftists had taken over the film industry.

They want the law to step in. Lee Jong-bae, a former People Power Party Seoul city councilor, filed a defamation complaint with police against Hur and his producers on Sept. 29. The President Park Chung Hee Memorial Foundation has demanded that theaters stop showing the film. That foundation and the Yook Young Foundation are weighing a court injunction. The party also tried to call Hur to testify at a parliamentary audit. The motion failed.

2. It's Fiction, and Audiences Should Judge It

Hur, Democratic Party lawmakers, and some critics say a movie can raise questions about history.

Hur says the film raises questions and doesn't directly blame Park. He said it "simply raises questions" and takes "creative liberties." He said he wanted to "express the emotions of people who lived through that era as they pursued the truth." His producers said the film "takes a historical event as its motif and reconstructs it through cinematic imagination."

Democrats say the public should judge the film. Democratic Party Rep. Choi Min-hee asked, "Isn't filmmaking about creating works of fiction based on historical facts?" She said audiences should decide for themselves. Democratic Party Rep. Jin Sun-mi suggested that lawmakers on the committee watch the movie together. Democratic Party floor spokesperson Jeon Eun-su told conservatives to avoid "outdated ideological conflict."

Viewers who bought tickets like it. Verified ticket buyers rate it 8.6 out of 10 on Naver. Ratings from all users are below 3.

Critics say the market should judge it. Film critic Huh Nam-woong said documentaries and fictional films "should be approached differently." He said, "If there are genuine problems with the film, the market and audiences will judge them." Kyunghyang Shinmun, a liberal daily, said conservatives are pushing the issue to rally their base while the government's approval ratings fall.

3. Criticize the Movie, but Leave the Actors Alone

Film guilds and the distributor say the fight has turned into threats against people who made the film.

The guilds say the attacks went too far. The Producers Guild of Korea said Friday that exposing personal details and family ties "goes far beyond legitimate criticism." It urged protesters to "refrain from making threats, defaming individuals and spreading unverified claims." The Cinematographers Guild of Korea warned that attacks on actors "could discourage filmmakers from trying new stories."

Protesters are going after the actors. Kim Sang-jin heads New Freedom Solidarity, a conservative group known as "Yoon Again." He posted a rally notice and a photo he said shows Yoo's house. It's not clear he officially registered the rally. People online put actors who praised the film on boycott lists. One YouTuber with about 240,000 subscribers deleted his review and apologized, writing, "I was politically uninformed." Burger King shut comments on Yoo's ads. The company says it hired Yoo for one campaign, and that campaign is wrapping up on schedule.

The distributor says the cast and crew are under too much pressure. Hive Media said it is "concerned that the circumstances surrounding the film are placing an excessive burden on the cast and production crew even outside the work."

4. Fiction Doesn't Fully Protect the Filmmakers

Some lawyers and filmmakers say a realistic film that points at a real man could still defame him.

Lawyers say the family may have a case. Attorney Kwak Jun-ho of Law Firm Chung said a portrayal implying Park was behind the shooting "infringes on the personal rights of the deceased." He said Park's family "has sufficient grounds to examine whether it could constitute defamation of the deceased." Attorney Joo Sung-wan of Law Firm Garoje said that if the film as a whole leads viewers to accept its message as fact, there may be grounds to consider it "a false statement of fact."

One director worries viewers can't tell fact from fiction. One director, speaking anonymously to the Korea JoongAng Daily, said, "The film contains so many realistic details that audiences could easily mistake them for historical fact."

Where This Lands

Rep. Joo and party leader Jang say the film smears Park and his murdered wife. A former party official has gone to the police. Hur says he only raised questions, and Choi says audiences should judge. Attorneys Kwak and Joo Sung-wan say the film could still face a defamation claim. The film guilds say criticism has turned into threats against actors. The film was back at No. 1 at the Korean box office on Thursday. Hive Media has pulled the cast from Busan festival events. The festival opens Oct. 7.

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