Director Heo Jin-ho speaks out directly on the 'higher-ups of the Central Intelligence Agency' issue: "It is something I never wanted to imagine" [Star Issue]

*This content was translated by AI.

Director Heo Jin-ho directly addressed the controversy surrounding the "higher-ups of the Central Intelligence Agency" in his film, "The Assassins."

In an interview segment aired on JTBC's "Newsroom" on the 2nd, Director Heo Jin-ho was asked, "Did you depict the higher-ups of the Central Intelligence Agency and Park Chung-hee Jeon (President) separately in 'The Assassins'?" He responded, "If one assumes that this film is about Park Jeong-hui (President) ordering an assassination and then watches it, it might appear that way. I thought of them as separate entities."

Director Heo Jin-ho explained, "Because if it had been (Park Chung-hee's) order, I felt he would not have risked his own life to give such a command. Naturally, the idea that he would have ordered the killing of his own wife is something I did not even want to imagine. Therefore, I thought of those aspects separately. That was the only way I could move the story forward." He added, "There may have been internal power struggles within the Central Intelligence Agency. I also considered whether the agency, facing a crisis due to that DJ kidnapping incident, might have acted on its own. I also thought it might not have been a very well-planned scheme, but rather a commotion or farce."

He continued, "It might have been a commotion that no one expected would grow this large. Because at the time, a Los Angeles Times reporter and a Tokyo bureau correspondent were present at that celebration venue. According to that reporter's account, it seemed like a commotion had broken out, so I used that as dialogue." He concluded, "Such suspicions are possible. I think there is room for individual viewers to imagine things in this way."

Director Heo Jin-ho stated, "Including actual documentary scenes at the end was also because after watching this film, if you look at real investigative programs or shows like 'Now We Can Speak' or 'It's Dangerous, The Truth,' it becomes easy to distinguish what is fact and what is cinematic imagination. I felt that people should watch those parts."

He added, "One of the approaches I took in this film was not so much stating 'this is a fact,' but rather adopting the form of the question 'could this have been a fact?' It seems I brought in many questions like that. First, the gap between the investigation records and other materials I had seen was enormous. And within that gap, rather than saying 'this is the truth,' I seem to have driven the film by throwing out questions to some extent." He further said, "When I create a story, I constantly check whether it makes sense or whether people will like it or find it interesting. But when creating a story, checking whether a certain group of people might dislike it or whether it could become a major social issue—I think I did that too after making this film. However, I am not sure if that is a good thing for the creator. In any case, as the person who made the film, my wish is that you watch the film and evaluate it based on what you see. It seems there are cases where people judge based on a few simple, incorrect facts without watching the movie."

Director Heo Jin-ho added, "The thought I kept holding onto while making this film was that it is not just a story about finding the assassins in this incident. And it is something I cannot conclude how certain events unfolded." He stated, "I made the film thinking of it as the story of people who sought the truth in that era, including the character Cheol-gu, who was unfairly dismissed due to the incident, and Jae-hwan, who tried to find the truth to the end despite external pressures in those harsh times."

"The Assassins" is a film that traces the suspicions and masterminds behind the 1974 shooting of Lady Yoo Young-soo. Since its release on the 23rd of last month, controversy has continued as political circles and related organizations have raised criticism of historical distortion regarding some settings in the movie.

Subsequently, "The Assassins" was scheduled to hold meet-and-greet events in Seoul, Suwon, Incheon, Busan, and other locations to mark its second week of release, but the production company decided to cancel the schedule out of concern that the controversy surrounding the work was spreading to the cast and crew.

HYBE Media Cop stated, "We respect the various opinions and interest shown in the work, while also expressing concern that the situation surrounding the work is causing excessive burden on the cast and crew beyond the scope of the film itself." They added, "This decision was made after careful consideration to protect those involved in the work and to take into account the impact it would have on audiences who visit theaters and theater staff."

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*This content was translated by AI.