Historical distortion debate surrounding 'The Assassin' fuels backlash against earlier film

A scene from "12.12: The Day." [Plus M Entertainment]
A scene from "12.12: The Day." [Plus M Entertainment]

"12.12: The Day," the 2023 film based on the Dec. 12, 1979 military uprising, is being hit with a wave of one-star reviews.

The backlash comes as a controversy over historical distortion in "The Assassin" — a film depicting the 1974 shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo — has spread through political circles.

A check of user reviews for "12.12: The Day" on major portals confirms a sharp spike in one-out-of-ten-star ratings posted between Thursday and Friday.

Those leaving one-star reviews wrote comments such as "the pioneer of historical distortion," "propaganda film, garbage," "leftists living comfortably so they push lowbrow agitprop — what a world. Back in the day, these people would have been sent to Namsan," "martial law was right, then and now," and "I watched this in middle school thinking it was just fun, but now I regret it and feel ashamed."

On Friday, posts titled "Latest update on '12.12: The Day' ratings" — screenshots of the portal review pages — spread across multiple online communities.

Reactions from other users ranged widely: "The far right is having a field day review-bombing it," "Someone's running a macro with a bunch of IDs," "Go move to the dictatorship you love so much," "This is communist-style censorship," and "I have no idea why they're suddenly having a meltdown."

"12.12: The Day" depicts the military coup staged on Dec. 12, 1979 by Hanahoe, a private network of Korea Military Academy graduates. Released in December 2023, the film drew 13.12 million viewers. It was directed by Kim Sung-su, known for "Beat," "No Sun" and "Asura: The City of Madness," and starred Hwang Jung-min and Jung Woo-sung. Hive MEDIAcorp, which also produced "Inside Men," "The Man Standing Next" and "The Assassin," produced the film.


jshan@heraldcorp.com