Credit: Hybe Media Corp.
The box-office hit of the Chuseok 추석 holidays was The Assassin(s) 암살자(들), a historical thriller starring Yu Hae-jin 유해진, Park Hae-il 박해일 and Lee Min-ho 이민호. The movie riffs on a longstanding conspiracy theory about the 1974 assassination of Yuk Yeong-su 육영수, the wife of Park Chung-hee 박정희 who was shot and killed during an attempt on the dictator’s life.
The assassin, Mun Se-gwang 문세광 was a 22-year-old Korean Japanese man recruited by North Korea. One popular conspiracy theory holds that Yuk was killed not by Mun - although he did fire a shot at the stage - but rather the Korea Central Intelligence Agency 중앙정보부, which supposedly staged the entire affair with the implicit backing from the womanizing dictator, killing Park’s wife in the commotion that Mun created.
Obviously this movie was not intended to appeal to South Korea’s conservatives. Even so, the reaction from the right wing has been especially furious, even compared to reactions to the unflattering depiction of South Korean dictators in recent films like 12.12: The Day 서울의 봄, which depicts Chun Doo-hwan 전두환’s 1979 coup. The makers of The Assassin(s) had to cancel a planned meet-and-greet event at the upcoming Busan International Film Festival 부산국제영화제 because of terroristic threats. The People Power Party 국민의힘 said it would send a letter to the Singapore International Film Festival, demanding the festival withdraw its selection of the movie as the festival opener.
The disproportionate fury hints at the relative statuses enjoyed by Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan in the South Korean right-wing imagination. This is an audience that views Park’s wife as matriarch to the nation and counterbalance to Park’s own worst tendencies - which were unleashed after her assassination.
The commercial success of the movie is a sign that South Korea’s mainstream society no longer has any regard for the right wing’s sacred cows. Since its release two weeks ago, The Assassin(s) has attracted more than 2m viewers and earned a comfortable position at the top of the box office chart.
