Assassin(s): The Yuk Young-soo Film, a Defamation Complaint and the Producer’s Driving Record
Hur Jin-ho’s 1974 assassination thriller leads the Korean box office with 1.77 million admissions while facing a defamation complaint over its plural title and a report on its producer’s six drunk or unlicensed driving cases.
TL;DR — Assassin(s) (암살자(들)), Hur Jin-ho’s thriller about the 1974 shooting that killed First Lady Yuk Young-soo, has been South Korea’s No. 1 film since it opened on 2026-09-23, with 1,766,942 admissions by the morning of 1 October. It is now carrying two separate controversies. On 29 September a former Seoul city councillor filed a criminal defamation complaint arguing that the plural title implies Park Chung-hee’s government was behind the killing; the filmmakers say the film names no mastermind. On 1 October the regional daily Maeil Shinmun reported that the film’s producer, Hive Media Corp chief Kim Won-guk, has six prior convictions for drunk or unlicensed driving, including a 2015 case in which he was detained. His side declined to comment. Neither controversy has dented the box office so far.
The film
| Title | Assassin(s) (암살자(들)) |
| Director | Hur Jin-ho |
| Cast | Yoo Hae-jin (detective Park Chul-gu), Park Hae-il (newspaper desk chief Kim Jae-hwan), Lee Min-ho (cub reporter Han Young-il) |
| Production / distribution | Hive Media Corp |
| Premiere | Toronto International Film Festival, 2026-09-16 |
| Korean release | 2026-09-23 |
| Subject | The 15 August 1974 shooting at Park Chung-hee’s Liberation Day address, which killed First Lady Yuk Young-soo, set against the press crackdown of the period |
| Box office | 1,766,942 admissions as of 2026-10-01 07:00; No. 1 Korean film |
The film opened at No. 1 with about 130,000 admissions on its first day, passed 1 million on day four (26 September) and led the Chuseok holiday box office. [Kyunghyang] [Topstar News] [Wikipedia (ko)]
Controversy 1: the plural in the title
What happened. On 2026-09-29, Lee Jong-bae, a former Seoul city councillor, filed a criminal complaint for defamation by false statement of facts against director Hur Jin-ho, the head of the production company and the screenwriter. [MBC]
The argument. The complaint centres on the title’s bracketed plural, (s). Lee says it implies there were perpetrators beyond Mun Se-gwang, the Zainichi Korean gunman convicted and executed for the shooting, and leads audiences to suspect that Park Chung-hee was involved in his own wife’s death.
The filmmakers’ answer. The production team said the film is a dramatic reconstruction based on historical records with added cinematic imagination. It does not designate any specific person as the mastermind, and it does not present hypotheses or dramatic settings as historical fact. [MBC]
The argument has spread well beyond the complaint. Korean community posts are circulating a former investigative journalist’s comments that the film directly raises the theory of a Park-linked plot. That is commentary, not something the film or its makers have stated, and it is the very reading the complaint objects to.
Controversy 2: the producer’s driving record
On 2026-10-01 Maeil Shinmun published an exclusive report on producer Kim Won-guk, head of Hive Media Corp. [Maeil Shinmun]
| When | What the report says |
|---|---|
| June 2015 | Drove a Mercedes about 5 km in Goyang while drunk and overturned it; fined 5 million won |
| November 2015 | Caught again, less than a year after the fine, with a blood-alcohol level of 0.143% after an accident; sentenced to 10 months in prison by the Goyang branch of Uijeongbu District Court and detained |
| January 2016 (appeal) | Sentence reduced to 8 months, suspended for 1 year |
| Overall | Six cases of drunk or unlicensed driving caught by the authorities |
Asked about the record, Kim’s side said it could not confirm anything because it was personal information. Shown the court documents, it said it had no statement to make. [Maeil Shinmun]
These are past cases with sentences already handed down. They have nothing to do with the film’s content. The story landed because of who it is about: the producer of a hit film already under a legal complaint.
Where things stand
- Box office: still No. 1 a week after release. Neither controversy has visibly slowed it.
- The complaint: filed with police. No decision on whether to investigate has been reported.
- The producer: no statement beyond declining to comment.
- Online: the film has become a political proxy fight. Opposing camps argue over the title rather than the film, and the driving story is being folded into the same argument.
FAQ
What is Assassin(s) about? The 15 August 1974 shooting at Park Chung-hee’s Liberation Day speech, in which First Lady Yuk Young-soo was killed, told through a detective and two journalists and set against the press crackdown of the time.
Why was a complaint filed? A former Seoul city councillor argues that the plural title implies Park Chung-hee was involved, which he calls a false statement of fact. The filmmakers say the film names no mastermind and presents its hypotheses as drama, not history.
What is the producer controversy? Maeil Shinmun reported that producer Kim Won-guk has six past convictions for drunk or unlicensed driving, including a 2015 detention. His side declined to comment.
Has it hurt the box office? Not so far. The film had 1,766,942 admissions by 1 October and was still the No. 1 Korean film.
Sources: Maeil Shinmun, MBC, Kyunghyang, Weekly Kyunghyang, Topstar News, Wikipedia (ko).
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