Korea education ministry audit debates film 'Assassin(s)', censorship claims
In short
South Korea's National Assembly Education Committee raised the film “Assassin(s),” about the shooting death of former first lady Yuk Young-soo, during its Oct. 7 audit of the Ministry of Education. People Power Party members said the film could distort students' view of history, while Democratic Party and Rebuilding Korea members called the push film censorship and urged critical-thinking education instead. Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said students should be taught to tell fact from fiction, while indicating limits to the ministry directly intervening in whether individual films are watched.
Read the full story 3 min read
The National Assembly's Education Committee took up the film “Assassin(s),” which deals with the shooting death of former first lady Yuk Young-soo, during its Oct. 7 audit of the Ministry of Education, extending a dispute that had already drawn in other committees. People Power Party members said the film risked distorting students' view of history, while Democratic Party and Rebuilding Korea Party members rejected what they called film censorship and pressed instead for critical-thinking education. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
Opening the questioning, People Power Party Rep. Jeong Seong-guk said media strongly influences how students form values and views of history, and that the film gives the impression of conspiracy theories beyond the actual assassin, Moon Se-kwang. He called it a “third-rate conspiracy theory” that leaves the impression the shooting could have been a staged operation by Park Chung-hee and the KCIA, and cited an Ulsan high school that had pursued a group viewing by student vote before cancelling it amid the fallout. He asked the ministry to report on its media literacy education. [ 1 , 3 ]
Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin replied that if people misunderstand facts and accept wrong facts as historical fact, that would be very wrong. He said works of fiction built on historical fact require students to be able to tell fact from fiction. Asia Economy reported that he also indicated there are limits to the ministry directly intervening in whether individual films are watched. People Power Party Rep. Park Jung-hoon pressed him on the director's claims of cinematic imagination and freedom of expression, arguing it was a double standard compared with his past criticism of students' remarks in a separate case. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Democratic Party Rep. Baek Seung-ah cited a remark by People Power Party leader Chang Dong-hyuk on last year's film “Founding War 2” that history is a subject of verification, not ideology, and said that if a film asserts new facts, they can be verified with objective material. She told the ministry it would be good to teach students to judge what in “Assassin(s)” is fact and what is fictional imagination. Democratic Party Rep. Kim Jun-hyuk said media literacy education able to critique and accept creative works is important. Rebuilding Korea Party Rep. Kang Kyung-sook protested during Jeong's questioning that “the National Assembly is not a film censorship committee” and that the People Power Party was mobilising its full party strength over one film. [ 1 , 3 ]
The exchange grew heated: committee chairman Kim Hee-jung, of the People Power Party, turned off Kang's microphone and warned members not to shout or interrupt proceedings, while Democratic Party whip Ko Min-jung objected to how the session was being run. Kim also told Ko that a ruling-party whip who interrupts the chair's running of the meeting should be cautioned. [ 1 ]
The same audit brought criticism of the ministry's preparation. People Power Party whip Seo Beom-su said the September “blackout” in college early-admission applications needed discussion of its causes and countermeasures, and that the 41-page work report did not contain a single line on the local education finance grant system or concerns that grants are shrinking and school conditions worsening. The chairman ordered the relevant items to be briefed again in the afternoon. [ 1 ]
Why it matters
The dispute shows how a historical film has become part of a wider partisan fight, now extending from the legislature's main committees into education oversight. Any move by the education ministry on media or film-related teaching could become contested along the same lines. The audit also surfaced unrelated complaints about the ministry's preparation, including a September college application system outage.
Key facts
- The National Assembly Education Committee discussed the film “Assassin(s),” which deals with the shooting death of former first lady Yuk Young-soo, at its Oct. 7 audit of the Ministry of Education. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- People Power Party Rep. Jeong Seong-guk said the film could give students a distorted view of history and give the impression of conspiracy theories beyond the actual assassin, Moon Se-kwang, describing it as a “third-rate conspiracy theory.” [ 1 , 3 ]
- Jeong cited an Ulsan high school that pushed a group viewing through a student vote and cancelled it after the issue grew. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Education Minister Choi Kyo-jin said it is educationally necessary for students to be able to distinguish fact from fiction, and that accepting wrong facts as historical fact would be very wrong. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Choi indicated there are limits to the ministry directly intervening in whether individual films are watched, according to Asia Economy. [ 3 ]
- Rebuilding Korea Party Rep. Kang Kyung-sook protested during the questioning that “the National Assembly is not a film censorship committee,” and committee chairman Kim Hee-jung turned off her microphone. [ 1 , 3 ]
- Democratic Party Rep. Baek Seung-ah cited a past remark by People Power Party leader Chang Dong-hyuk that history is a subject of verification, not ideology, and called for teaching students critical thinking about the film. [ 1 , 3 ]
- People Power Party Rep. Seo Beom-su criticized the ministry's 41-page work report for containing nothing on the September college application system outage or concerns over reduced local education grants. [ 1 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- The film “Assassin(s)” was taken up as an issue at the Oct. 7 National Assembly Education Committee audit of the Ministry of Education. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
- Education Minister Choi said teaching students to distinguish fact from historical fiction is educationally necessary. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- People Power Party members framed the film as a risk of distorted historical awareness, while Democratic Party members framed the response as film censorship or called for critical-thinking education. [ 1 , 3 ]
- An Ulsan high school cancelled a planned group viewing of the film after the issue grew. [ 1 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- The education minister's name is given as Choi Kyo-sik in one account and Choi Kyo-jin in two others. The documents disagree on the spelling of the minister's given name, so the correct form cannot be settled from them.
- Whether the Ministry of Education will take any concrete action over the film or over media literacy teaching. The minister's responses are described generally; one outlet says he indicated limits to direct ministry involvement in individual film viewing, but no measure is stated.
- What the film itself asserts about the Yuk Young-soo shooting. The documents describe the film's content only through lawmakers' characterisations, not from the film or its makers.
- Details of the Ulsan high school case, such as the school's name or the date of the cancelled viewing. Both accounts mention the episode only in general terms.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Yonhap reports the Education Committee audit, where People Power Party and Democratic Party members clashed over the film “Assassin(s)” and the chairman cut off a member's microphone. [ 1 ]
- Chosun Ilbo reports that the film row became a focal point of the audit and that the education minister said students need to be taught to separate fact from fiction. [ 2 ]
- Asia Economy publishes a detailed account of the ruling and opposition parties' positions and the minister's answer. [ 3 ]
- Yonhap issues a follow-up report on the same dispute at the ministry audit. [ 4 ]