'Assassin(s)' Production Team Reported to Police—Could They Face Punishment? "A Complaint from the Bereaved Family Is Key"

[Financial News] Attention is focused on whether the production team of 'Assassin(s),' a film based on the shooting of Yuk Young-soo, could actually face criminal punishment after being reported for alleged defamation. Legal experts say key issues will include whether the bereaved family files a complaint and whether the film's expressions constitute the specific allegation of false facts.
According to police and other sources on the 1st, Lee Jong-bae, a former Seoul Metropolitan Council member from the People Power Party, reported director Hur Jin-ho and the production team to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency the previous day on suspicion of defamation through the allegation of false facts. Lee claimed that the film damaged the reputation of former President Park Chung Hee by implying that there were assassins other than Mun Se-gwang.
The production team maintains that it did not identify any specific person as being behind the incident and that the film is a fictional work that adds cinematic imagination to a historical event.
The key issue is that defamation of the dead is an offense subject to complaint. Seo Jeong-wook, an attorney at Law Office Minju, said, "Because defamation of the dead is an offense subject to complaint, it would be difficult to proceed with a case based only on a third-party accusation, as in the current situation." However, Seo explained that if former President Park Geun-hye or other family members filed a complaint themselves, the parties could contest whether the crime had been established.
Kwak Jun-ho, an attorney at Cheong Law Office, likewise said, "Without a complaint from the bereaved family, it is unlikely that the matter would lead to actual punishment," but added, "The situation could change if the family files a complaint directly."
Some experts, however, say it is difficult to conclude that a third-party accusation would be immediately dismissed. Kim Tae-yeon, an attorney at Taeyeon Law Office, noted, "In practice, there are cases in which an accusation is filed first and then supplemented after confirming the intent of the person entitled to file a complaint to seek punishment."
A notice stating that the film is fictional and the use of altered names for real-life figures could also be considered. The authorities would need to examine whether viewers could have taken the plot as actual historical fact and whether the production team knew that the content was false.
Under the Criminal Act, defamation of the dead is punishable by up to two years in prison or imprisonment without labor, or a fine of up to 5 million won. Kim predicted, "Fines are more common in ordinary cases, but if the defendant is found to have defamed someone's reputation while knowing the claims were false, the punishment could be more severe in consideration of the social impact and other factors."
Some observers also believe that an injunction to ban the film's screening would be difficult to obtain. Since the film has already been released and much of its content is known, an injunction filed at this point is unlikely to be granted.
In 2010, the Supreme Court of Korea upheld the acquittal of the production team of the historical drama 'Seoul 1945' in a defamation-of-the-dead case, ruling that the work could not readily be viewed as an allegation of specific false facts.
[email protected] Choi Seung-han Reporter