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/ Busan Film Commission Instagram

As controversy over historical distortion surrounding the film The Assassin(s) persists, group screenings and previews organized by public institutions are being canceled one after another.

The Busan Film Commission decided on the 1st to cancel a public preview screening of The Assassin(s) that was scheduled for citizens.

In an official Instagram post, the Busan Film Commission stated, "While we initially intended to proceed with the screening as scheduled, we inevitably decided to cancel the preview after thoroughly reviewing the recent developments surrounding the work and diverse feedback from citizens."

It added, "This decision does not represent the Busan Film Commission's judgment on or endorsement of the work's content or any particular stance surrounding it. We ask for your understanding once again for any inconvenience caused by the cancellation of the preview."

Earlier, the Northern Gyeonggi Support Center for Discharged Soldiers under the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs also changed the featured movie for its group screening event from The Assassin(s) to a different film.

On the 21st, the center announced a free movie screening event for 120 discharged soldiers and their families to commemorate Discharged Soldiers Week. At the time, The Assassin(s) was selected as the featured film, with the event announcement posted ahead of its release on the 23rd of last month.

However, after the film became embroiled in controversy over historical distortion, the center replaced the screening title with The Intern.

The Assassin(s) tracks the suspected background figures behind the 1974 assassination of First Lady Yuk Young-soo. As the narrative raised a hypothesis suggesting then-President Park Chung-hee was behind the incident, criticism arose from both political circles and audiences questioning whether it distorted real historical facts.

Addressing the controversy, director Hur Jin-ho explained, "I did not make the film based on the premise that Park Chung-hee ordered Yuk Young-soo killed," clarifying that such a hypothesis is contradictory and lacks plausibility.

                                                                                                            Jeong A-reum