"I Couldn't Find Any Part That Insulted Park Chung Hee or Yuk Young-soo" — So Jae-won Defends 'Assassin(s)'

[Financial News] Writer So Jae-won, who wrote the film 'Hope,' shared his thoughts on the controversy surrounding 'Assassin(s)' after watching the film, which is based on the shooting of the late Yuk Young-soo. So Jae-won said he could not find any part of the film that could be considered insulting to former President Park Chung Hee or Yuk Young-soo.
After watching 'Assassin(s)' on the 5th, So Jae-won posted a message on social media expressing his position on the controversy that has continued in recent days.
The writer said, "The moment I walked out of the theater, I no longer felt the need to quietly sort through my thoughts. That was because I could not find a single part of this film that could be considered an insult to President Park Chung Hee and Mrs. Yuk Young-soo."
He also questioned the criticism surrounding the film's fictionalized elements. So Jae-won asked, "Is even this level of creative work based on history not allowed? Where, exactly, are the rumors about President Park Chung Hee that are difficult even to mention—the rumors at the center of this controversy—found in the film's narrative or scenes?"
He gave the film itself a strong review. So Jae-won said, "The actors' performances and the director's direction were so flawless that I could not find a single fault. It was a work that proved it would no longer feel awkward to call Hur Jin-ho a master."
However, drawing on his own experience writing works based on true stories, he said the production process left him with some disappointment. He stressed, "The deepest disappointment lay outside the work itself. It was consideration for 'those who survived.'"
He also shared an example from the time he wrote 'Hope.' So Jae-won explained, "When I was writing the film 'Hope,' I met the families of child sex crime victims before the work was released, showed them the script, and promised that I would abandon the project if there was anything that could hurt the children even a little or if any expression was excessive."
He said that he also personally met with victims' groups while working on 'Air Murder,' which is based on the humidifier disinfectant disaster, and that he invited the victims and bereaved families first after the film's release.
Based on these experiences, he also made a request of director Hur Jin-ho and the production company. He said, "If the director and the production company had put respect for those who survived first, would controversy have arisen around such a perfect work? Even now, I hope they will visit the people who survived those historical events and convey their sincerity."
So Jae-won said the production team needed to explain the film's intentions first to those who directly experienced the incident and their families. He said, "Families who faced and lived through the tragedy recorded in the pages of history are still living today. They should be the first to receive a deep understanding of the history, comfort, and the sincerity behind the work. That is our courtesy to those who survived."
However, he did not limit the 'those who survived' he referred to solely to the families of former President Park Chung Hee and Yuk Young-soo.
So Jae-won said, "History does not belong to any one person. Those who survived and lived through that history are not limited to President Park Chung Hee and Mrs. Yuk Young-soo's families. Everyone who was near the history of that time is a survivor."
He went on to emphasize, "If all of those people watched this film together, it would not have remained merely a film that creatively depicted history from the past. It would have remained an excellent film that helps create a new era by presenting a new future."
Meanwhile, director Hur Jin-ho's 'Assassin(s)' follows the suspicions surrounding the shooting of Yuk Young-soo on Aug. 15, 1974, and the forces behind the incident. Yoo Hae-jin, Minho and Park Hae-il star in the film.


[email protected] Han Seung-gon Reporter