Character assassination? Yoo Hai-jin's agency vows to 'protect' actor as film firestorm spills into boycotts, protests.

Actor Yoo Hai-jin’s agency vowed a firm response Monday after controversy surrounding Yoo’s film “The Assassin(s)” escalated into a boycott targeting the actor and a rally outside his home.

“We take extremely seriously any acts that invade the actor’s privacy, threaten his personal safety or damage his reputation,” Yoo’s agency Vast Entertainment said in a statement posted on its official social media accounts.

The agency said defamatory claims and false information about Yoo have recently spread indiscriminately across online communities and social media, along with malicious personal attacks and insults.

It said it has continued to collect related posts and other materials.

“We will take every possible measure to protect our actor’s rights and safety from unlawful acts,” the agency said.

Vast Entertainment added it will continue to monitor acts that infringe on its actors’ rights or safety and take necessary action when such cases are identified.

The statement came as controversy over alleged historical distortions in “The Assassin(s)” spread to criticism of Yoo, who stars in the film.

“The Assassin(s)” centers on the assassination attempt of then-President Park Chung Hee on Aug. 15, 1974, which resulted in the death of his wife, Yuk Young-soo.

The controversy stems from the movie’s open ending. As Yoo’s character, a police detective, and others dig deeper into the incident, they come to suspect that the Korean Central Intelligence Agency, the predecessor of today’s National Intelligence Service, was behind the shooting — an interpretation that critics claim supports the conspiracy theory that the government was involved in the first lady’s death.

Online calls have recently emerged to boycott products from companies for which Yoo serves as an advertising model or to demand that the companies replace him. Some users posted proof that they had boycotted products from a fast-food chain featuring Yoo in its advertising or deleted its app, while protest comments were posted under related advertisements.

The controversy has also spilled offline. Members of conservative groups held a rally outside Yoo’s home in Seongbuk District, central Seoul, on Sunday. They demanded that screenings of the film be halted and that its production team and cast apologize.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Chae Hwi-young also called on authorities on Monday to strictly enforce the law to protect the safety of the film's filmmakers and cast members. 

“Today, I strongly urged the National Police Agency and other relevant authorities to take measures to ensure the safety of the filmmakers and cast members and strictly enforce the law against illegal acts, including threats and intimidation outside their homes,” Chae said on social media. 

“People are free to judge a film, but threatening the personal safety of creators is destructive to democracy,” Chae continued. “If criticism of a film goes so far as to bring protesters to a cast member’s home, intrude on their daily life and threaten their personal safety, that can never be tolerated.”

The culture minister also rejected calls to halt screenings of the film.

“Demanding that the government intervene in advance or use its administrative power to judge a work simply because one dislikes its content is a dangerous call to return to an era of ‘prior censorship,’ which is prohibited by the Constitution,” Chae said.

“If a work involves defamation or other legal issues, those matters should be subject to strict judgment by the courts through civil litigation or criminal proceedings after its release.”

Chae stressed that criticism and debate over the film’s story are a separate matter.

“It is natural and healthy in a democratic society for criticism and debate to arise over the historical interpretations or perspectives presented in a film,” the culture minister said.

BY HYEON YE-SEUL [[email protected]]