On September 29, Ryu Hye Young took to her social media account and shared several photos along with the caption, “The Assassin(s) is so much fun too.” In the photos, the actress wears an all-black outfit consisting of a black high-neck top and matching pants, smiling with her hands clasped together. With her long hair tied back and light bangs framing her face, she exudes a neat yet sophisticated atmosphere.
The final photo showed the VIP premiere of The Assassin(s). With the cast and other representatives lined up in front of a large screen, Ryu Hye Young could also be seen on stage applauding alongside them. It was an ordinary promotional post from an actress introducing a film in which she appears.
However, the post soon attracted a series of hostile comments. Some netizens wrote remarks such as, “Boycott the distorters,” “I’m not watching it,” and “I can’t believe all the actors I loved are leftists.” The criticism surrounding the film had effectively expanded into personal attacks directed at one of its cast members.
The Assassin(s) is inspired by the 1974 shooting that killed South Korean First Lady Yuk Young-soo and follows an investigation into questions surrounding the incident and who may have been behind it. Ryu Hye Young plays Yoon Hee, a social affairs reporter for the Dongseong Ilbo. Some political figures have accused the film of distorting historical facts, while the Park Chung Hee Presidential Memorial Foundation has called for an apology from the production company and demanded that screenings be halted.
That same day, the production team pushed back against the criticism, stating that The Assassin(s) is “a fictional film reconstructed by adding cinematic imagination to various records.” According to the filmmakers, the movie was not created with the intention of establishing a new historical conclusion or denying or distorting existing facts.
Despite the controversy, the film has continued to draw sizable audiences. It opened at No. 1 at the box office with approximately 134,000 moviegoers on its first day and surpassed one million admissions within four days of release. Around 1.4 million people visited theaters to watch the movie during the Chuseok holiday period, while its cumulative audience stood at approximately 1.63 million as of September 29.
Ryu Hye Young has earned recognition for her acting through dramas including Reply 1988, Law School and Law and the City. She is set to return to the big screen in October with the horror film Killing Time. The movie follows Yeon Woo, played by Ryu Hye Young, and Joo Won, played by Nam Yoon Su, two streamers who visit an abandoned hospital in an attempt to revive their careers, only to find themselves fighting for survival.
Sources: Naver