Removal requests flood in over subway ads for 'The Assassin'

"The Assassin," a film depicting the shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo, has surpassed 2 million admissions amid a controversy over alleged historical distortion. According to the Korean Film Council's integrated ticketing system on Sunday, cumulative admissions for the film reached more than 2.04 million as of Saturday, making it the ninth film released this year to cross the 2 million mark. Pictured is a poster for "The Assassin" at a movie theater in Seoul on Sunday. [Yonhap]
"The Assassin," a film depicting the shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo, has surpassed 2 million admissions amid a controversy over alleged historical distortion. According to the Korean Film Council's integrated ticketing system on Sunday, cumulative admissions for the film reached more than 2.04 million as of Saturday, making it the ninth film released this year to cross the 2 million mark. Pictured is a poster for "The Assassin" at a movie theater in Seoul on Sunday. [Yonhap]

Amid a continuing controversy over alleged historical distortion in "The Assassin," a film based on the shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo, complaints demanding the removal of the film's subway advertisements have poured in across Seoul.

According to Seoul Metro, 639 complaints requesting the removal of "The Assassin" ads from subway stations were filed with its customer service center between Sept. 29 and Tuesday. Friday alone accounted for 474 of those complaints — 74.2 percent of the total.

Most of the complaints called for the ads to be taken down, Seoul Metro said.

Seoul Metro had been running the ads on subway lines 1 through 4 since August, ahead of the film's release. From Aug. 20 through Friday, 43 illuminated ads were installed on platform screen doors at 20 stations. Video ads were also broadcast at 817 digital information boards across 89 stations from Aug. 24 through the film's opening day on Sept. 23.

The advertising contracts expired Sept. 30, and the ads are being removed.

"The Assassin" is based on the shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo at a Liberation Day ceremony on Aug. 15, 1974. Since its release, the film has been engulfed in controversy over alleged historical distortion, with director Heo Jin-ho and other crew members facing criminal complaints. Actor Yoo Hae-jin has also faced difficulties, with far-right groups staging protest rallies outside his home and launching advertising boycott campaigns against him.


jshan@heraldcorp.com