Progressive history lecturer Hwang Hyun-pil criticizes conservative figures who have attacked the recently released film "The Assassin." [Screen capture from YouTube channel 'Hwang Hyun-pil Korean History']
Progressive history lecturer Hwang Hyun-pil criticizes conservative figures who have attacked the recently released film "The Assassin." [Screen capture from YouTube channel 'Hwang Hyun-pil Korean History']

Hwang Hyun-pil, a progressive Korean history lecturer with more than 1.12 million YouTube subscribers and director of the History Correction Research Institute, weighed in on the controversy surrounding the film "The Assassin" Thursday, saying he personally cannot accept the portrayal of former President Park Chung-hee as the mastermind behind the assassination of first lady Yuk Young-soo, and that he mourns her death. However, he directed his sharpest criticism at conservative figures attacking the film, drawing a contrast with their praise for "The Birth of Korea" and calling out what he described as hypocrisy.

Speaking on his YouTube channel Thursday, Hwang opened by saying, "Personally, I cannot agree with the portrayal of President Park Chung-hee as the mastermind behind the assassination of Yuk Young-soo," adding, "Personally, I mourn her death."

"At the time, the public was genuinely grief-stricken, and the mourning was profound," he said. "I thought it could be made into a film — there are many films about the Kennedy assassination, after all, and this is a historical event — but I also thought it could be uncomfortable for the bereaved family, who are still alive. I understand that feeling."

Hwang went on to say, "In the face of death, both progressives and conservatives must approach it with humility," adding, "All the more so when a person has died by violence — that must never be trivialized."

He was particularly pointed about those condemning "The Assassin," saying, "Those who applauded 'The Birth of Korea' and called it a great film have no standing to call 'The Assassin' an immoral film." He added that "The Assassin" neither defended Moon Se-gwang nor trivialized the death of Yuk Young-soo.

He then said, "With 'The Birth of Korea,' you praised Rhee Syngman — a man who led state violence in the Bodo League massacre, the Yeosu-Suncheon Incident and the Jeju April 3 Incident, slaughtering thousands of people who were not even socialists or communists," and went on to criticize People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyeok and People Power Party lawmaker Ju Jin-woo by name.

"The Birth of Korea" is a documentary examining the life and politics of former President Rhee Syngman that sparked controversy over alleged historical distortions in its treatment of left-right conflict.

Jang and Ju had attended a screening of "The Birth of Korea 2." The Jeju April 3 Pan-National Committee and the Jeju April 3 Commemoration Project Committee criticized their attendance, saying that expressing gratitude for a film that glorifies figures such as Col. Park Jin-gyeong, who led the suppression of Jeju residents during the April 3 Incident, "is an act of killing the 30,000 victims of April 3 a second time and tearing open the wounds of more than 100,000 bereaved families."

Meanwhile, "The Assassin," directed by Heo Jin-ho and starring Yoo Hae-jin and Park Hae-il, is a mystery thriller exploring the background and allegations surrounding the shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo at the Aug. 15, 1974, Liberation Day ceremony. The film's interpretation of who was behind the shooting has drawn criticism from political circles.

As the controversy grew, production company MEDIAcorp pushed back, saying the film "is purely a dramatic work that adds imagination to the historical record" and that it "does not identify any specific individual as the mastermind or present the film's settings as historical fact." The company said it had "no intention of distorting established facts or reaching any definitive conclusion," but the controversy has not subsided.

The special investigation unit that examined the shooting concluded that Moon Se-gwang, acting on orders from North Korea and the General Association of Korean Residents in Japan, attempted to shoot former President Park Chung-hee as he delivered his Liberation Day address but missed, and that Yuk Young-soo, who was seated beside Park, was struck by a bullet and killed.

Moon was executed at Seoul Detention Center on Dec. 20 of that year.


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com