"After I Started Liking Minho..." — North Korean Defector YouTuber Han Song-i on 'Assassin(s)'

[Financial News] North Korean defector YouTuber Han Song-i, who has about 320,000 subscribers, has reiterated her criticism of the film 'Assassin(s)'. While maintaining her claim that the film resembles a propaganda movie she watched in North Korea, she said the decision of whether to watch it should be left to the audience.
On September 30, the Maeil Shinmun YouTube channel released a video in which Han Song-i shared her thoughts after watching 'Assassin(s)'.
The previous day, September 29, Han Song-i had also claimed on her own channel that 'Assassin(s)' closely resembles the North Korean propaganda film 'Nation and Destiny'.
In an interview with The Chosun Ilbo, director Hur Jin-ho denied any connection between the works, saying, "This is the first time I have learned that there is a film called 'Nation and Destiny.'" He added, "I do not think President Park Chung Hee did such a thing, and I did not portray him that way."
In the video, Han Song-i once again explained how she came to watch the film and responded to reactions to her earlier assessment.
Han Song-i denied suspicions from some people that she had criticized the film without watching it. She said she went to see a movie alone during the Chuseok holiday and chose 'Assassin(s)' because her favorite actor, Minho, appeared in it.
Regarding the film's content, she said it reminded her of the Park Chung Hee installment of 'Nation and Destiny', which she had seen in North Korea. Han Song-i said, "I watched the story, and although the actors acted very well, the content was so similar to the film in the Park Chung Hee installment of 'Nation and Destiny' that I had seen in North Korea."
Han Song-i said she had repeatedly encountered 'Nation and Destiny' in North Korea from childhood. She claims the work was used as propaganda to criticize South Korea's system.
Han Song-i also criticized the film's treatment of theories about who was behind the shooting of Yuk Young-soo. She said cinematic imagination was acceptable, but that depicting historical events should not lead to the distortion of facts.
She continued, "A country's history must not be distorted, and a people that distorts history has no hope."
After sharing her assessment of 'Assassin(s)', she said she received comments on social media such as "What do you know, sis?" and "Do you even know left from right?" Han Song-i criticized reactions that linked her review to her political views, saying, "I think people who bring up left and right while watching a movie are the craziest of all." However, regarding whether people should watch the film, she said, "The choice is entirely up to the audience."
When asked whether she planned to enter politics, she drew a line, saying, "I know absolutely nothing about politics."
Meanwhile, the production team said on September 28 that 'Assassin(s)' is a fictional film that combines real events and records with cinematic imagination, and that it was not made to deny or distort historical facts. The team also said it had neither identified a particular person as being behind the incident nor presented a hypothesis in the film as historical fact.


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