South Korean film controversy reopens debate over Park Chung-hee’s legacy

A South Korean film about the 1974 assassination attempt on former president and military leader Park Chung-hee has triggered demands for screenings to stop and a police complaint against its director and producers. The Assassin(s), directed by Hur Jin-ho, sold more than one million tickets in its first four days during the Chuseok holiday. Its success was quickly overshadowed by criticism from Park loyalists and conservative politicians, who say the film defames Park and misrepresents his administration.

The film depicts an attempt by Mun Se-gwang, identified at the time as a North Korean sympathiser, to shoot Park during a ceremony. He missed Park but killed the first lady, Yuk Young-soo. The film also raises the possibility that people inside the presidential office or intelligence authorities may have been involved, without identifying accomplices.

Park’s son, Park Ji-man, asked the Park Chung Hee Memorial Foundation to seek an end to screenings. The foundation called for an apology from the production company and for the film to be removed from theatres. A former People Power Party councillor separately filed a police complaint, alleging defamation and the spread of false information.

The production team denied political motives and said the film was an imaginative work rather than an attempt to prove a new historical conclusion. Academics told the South China Morning Post that the dispute reflects unresolved disagreement over Park’s authoritarian rule, economic development and the country’s democratisation struggle. Several actors have faced online abuse, while some public appearances were cancelled.