Jang Dong-hyuk: "Is 'The Assassin(s)' Freedom of Expression? ... Watch 'Asura: The City of Madness' Too"
- Input
- 2026-09-28 08:40:55
- Updated
- 2026-09-28 08:40:55

[Financial News] People Power Party leader Jang Dong-hyuk criticized the film 'The Assassin(s),' which is based on the shooting of Yuk Young-soo, on the 28th and recommended the film 'Asura: The City of Madness.' He also wrote, "Annam City = Andong + Seongnam?" thereby indirectly targeting President Lee Jae Myung.
Jang wrote on Facebook that "'The Assassin(s)' was released during the Chuseok holiday," adding, "They say it tells a truly absurd story in which President Park Chung Hee was behind the shooting of Yuk Young-soo."
'The Assassin(s),' directed by Hur Jin-ho and released on the 23rd, is based on the shooting of Yuk Young-soo on August 15, 1974, and follows an investigation into the suspicions surrounding the incident and those behind it. The film is a mystery thriller that adds cinematic imagination to the real-life case. It has been a box-office hit during the Chuseok holiday season, surpassing 1 million cumulative viewers just four days after its release.
Jang said, "During then-President Park Geun-hye's visit to North Korea in 2002, Kim Jong Il personally apologized for the assassination of Yuk Young-soo," adding, "Despite that, the left makes films like this. Then it calls them freedom of expression."
He continued, "You can go to prison for saying even one wrong thing about 5·18. Claims that the Korean War was initiated by the South and that the ROKS Cheonan collided with a U.S. submarine are considered freedom of expression. If you say anything about President Roh Moo-hyun, you face a string of lawsuits and criminal complaints. Insulting President Park Chung Hee is freedom of expression. Is freedom of expression the exclusive domain of the left?"
At the end of his post, Jang brought up the film 'Asura: The City of Madness.' He wrote, "Since we're on the subject, let me introduce one good film as well: the 2016 film 'Asura: The City of Madness.' Annam City = Andong + Seongnam? It is just cinematic imagination, so please do not say anything else about it."
Andong, which Jang mentioned, is President Lee's hometown, while Seongnam is where Lee served as mayor. His reference to the fictional city of Annam City, the setting of 'Asura: The City of Madness,' as a combination of the two places is interpreted as an indirect jab at President Lee Jae Myung.
[email protected] Kim Kyung-min Reporter