According to the integrated ticketing system on the 28th, the movie 'Assassin(s)' attracted over 1.407 million viewers during the four-day Chuseok holiday (24th~27th), reaching 1 million viewers just four days after its release. As of the previous day, cumulative audience reached 1.56 million . It is said that the film reached over 6,000 viewers, thanks to the production team, who have maintained the undefeated success of modern history faction films with 'Namsan's Heads' and 'Spring in Seoul,' director Heo Jin-ho's delicate direction, and the acting ensemble of Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-il, and Lee Min-ho, drawing audiences in. However, the film triggered a flicker by addressing the hypothetical suspicion of 'Park Chung-hee regime or KCIA's plot' as a dialogue about the assassination incident committed by Moon Se-gwang at the Liberation Day ceremony on August 15, 1974, not only as a solo attack by North Korea and the Korean Chongryon. The ruling party immediately launched a full-scale offensive, but People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk said, "If you touch former President Roh Moo-hyun, you get sued and accused one after another, but if you insult Park Chung-hee, they call it 'freedom of expression.' " He sharply criticized, "Is freedom of expression the exclusive domain of the left?" Joo Jin-woo, a member of the People Power Party, also argued, "The film 'Assassins(s)' distorts the case as if the assassination of First Lady Yuk Young-soo was not North Korea but former President Park Chung-hee," and added, "It is not a cinematic imagination but a heinous crime that breaks the hearts of the bereaved families, and it must be strictly punished as an excuse that cannot be justified under the pretext of freedom of expression." The Park Chung-hee Presidential Memorial Foundation also issued an urgent statement They reportedly demanded the official withdrawal of the screening, saying, "We deeply regret and strongly condemn the act of distorting a historical tragedy," and demanded, "The production company must formally apologize for distorting historical facts and suspend the screening of the film." As the controversy intensified, the production team stated, "'Assassin(s)' is a feature film inspired by the 1974 historical event, combining various public records with cinematic imagination," and added, "We have absolutely no intention of newly confirming any particular historical conclusion or distorting existing facts," they are taking a direct charge.
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