Former Justice Party lawmaker Park Won-seok (left) and a poster for the film "The Assassin(s)." [Yonhap, Hive MEDIAcorp]
Former Justice Party lawmaker Park Won-seok (left) and a poster for the film "The Assassin(s)." [Yonhap, Hive MEDIAcorp]

Amid a growing controversy over whether the film "The Assassin(s)" implies that former President Park Chung-hee was behind the 1974 shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo, former Justice Party lawmaker Park Won-seok has pushed back against critics who accuse the film of distorting history.

Park posted on his Facebook page Saturday afternoon, asking those calling the film defamatory to "point out specifically, after watching the movie, which part and which scene constitutes a false statement of fact and defamation." He added that after seeing the film himself, he found the uproar that had dominated the past week "so absurd it made me laugh."

"In the film, President Park Chung-hee appears only briefly in one or two scenes beyond an early Liberation Day address, with not a single line of dialogue or close-up shot," he said. "There is not even a direct implication that President Park was behind the assassination attempt on the first lady."

Park said the film's aim was to use the unresolved questions and gaps in the investigation's findings as a backdrop to portray "an era of censorship, control, violence and barbarism created by Park Chung-hee and his regime." He urged critics to "stop the unhinged incitement and game of attacking a strawman that does not exist — unless you are prepared to argue that exposing the violence and barbarism of Park Chung-hee, the Emergency Decrees and the Yushin system amounts to sacrilege."

Park also praised the performances in the film, singling out actor Yoo Hae-jin, who played a character named Inspector Park, as the most immersive. He then criticized People Power Party lawmaker Ju Jin-woo, who had left a comment reading "North Korean face" on an online post attacking Yoo's appearance in the film. "Lawmaker Ju, who leveled that crude personal attack and red-baiting against that actor, should be ashamed and apologize," Park said.

Meanwhile, Ju had sparked controversy after leaving the "North Korean face" comment on an online post criticizing Yoo's role in the film. He later said the comment was meant to suggest Yoo was "siding with North Korea."


yeonjoo7@heraldcorp.com