Controversy Surrounding South Korean Film 'The Assassin(s)' Escalates

Controversy surrounding the South Korean historical thriller “The Assassin(s)” intensified Sunday after Naver said it had detected automated abuse involving reactions to online reviews of the film and referred the matter to police, while conservative groups staged a protest outside the home of lead actor Yoo Hae-jin.

Released Sept. 23, the film dramatizes the 1974 assassination attempt on then-President Park Chung-hee that instead killed first lady Yuk Young-soo. While the official investigation concluded that gunman Mun Se-gwang acted under North Korean direction, the movie follows fictional investigators who question whether figures inside Park’s government or intelligence apparatus may also have been involved.

The premise has drawn strong criticism from conservative politicians and groups, who accuse the film of distorting history and insulting Yuk’s surviving family. The production team has said the movie is fictional and does not seek to establish a new historical conclusion.

Naver, South Korea’s largest web portal and a major platform for movie information and user reviews, said Sunday that it found abnormal traffic involving several films. For “The Assassin(s),” it confirmed what it called “mechanical abuse” in the system that allows users to react positively or negatively to reviews.

The company did not identify who was responsible or say the activity was politically motivated. It also did not say that the film’s star ratings themselves had been manipulated.

Naver said it referred the case to police and temporarily changed the default order of reviews for the film from most-liked to most-recent. The move followed accusations that coordinated users had tried to push highly negative reviews to the top of the page.

The controversy also moved offline Sunday, when about 50 people, according to an unofficial police estimate cited by local media, gathered outside a house in Seoul believed to belong to Yoo. Conservative groups called for the film to stop screening and demanded apologies from its producers and cast.

Pressure on the movie had already spread to its promotional activities. Yoo and co-star Lee Min-ho withdrew from appearances linked to the Busan International Film Festival, while other events were canceled over safety concerns.

“The Assassin(s)” surpassed 2 million admissions on Oct. 3, its 11th day in theaters according to the Korean Film Council.