Lee Min-ho solo talk canceled at Busan film festival amid 'The Assassin(s)' controversy

A solo talk event featuring actor Lee Min-ho at the 31st Busan International Film Festival has been canceled amid growing controversy over historical distortion surrounding "The Assassin(s)," in which Lee stars.

The Busan International Film Festival announced Thursday on its official Instagram account that the "Actors House: Lee Min-ho" event, scheduled for 6:50 p.m. Wednesday, had been called off due to "unavoidable circumstances."

The festival said all purchased tickets would be automatically refunded without any separate cancellation request or fee, and that individual notification messages would be sent to ticket holders. It did not disclose a specific reason for the cancellation.

Lee had been set to meet with audiences for about an hour at the culture hall of Shinsegae Department Store's Centum City branch in Busan on Wednesday. The "Actors House" program, launched in 2021, is one of the festival's signature talk series, in which leading actors of the era reflect on their filmographies and discuss their performances and projects with audiences. This year's lineup includes Lee Min-ho, Kim Go-eun, Kim Min-ha, Ryu Seung-ryong, Shin Min-a and Ju Ji-hoon.

Lee had planned to look back on his work, including the drama series "Boys Over Flowers," "Legend of the Blue Sea" and "The King: Eternal Monarch," as well as the film "Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint." The festival's official cancellation post has drawn a stream of complaints from overseas fans who had planned to travel to Korea to see him.

The cancellation came as controversy surrounding "The Assassin(s)" continued to grow. On the same day, the Busan Film Commission also called off a public preview of the film, which had been scheduled for Monday and was to invite 80 Busan residents. The commission said the decision came after "a comprehensive review of the recent circumstances surrounding the work and the wide range of opinions expressed by citizens."

Directed by Heo Jin-ho, "The Assassin(s)" is a mystery thriller inspired by the shooting of first lady Yuk Young-soo at a Liberation Day ceremony on Aug. 15, 1974. The film, which stars Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-il and Lee Min-ho, opened Sept. 23.

Since its release, the film has drawn criticism for allegedly distorting history by drawing on unverified allegations about actual modern historical events. Some political figures have also raised concerns that it could misrepresent the circumstances of the shooting. The Park Chung-hee Presidential Memorial Foundation called for the film to be pulled from theaters and demanded a formal apology from the production company.

In a statement Monday, the filmmakers said "The Assassin(s)" was "not a film made to newly establish a specific historical conclusion or to deny or distort established facts," describing it as "a work reconstructed by adding cinematic imagination to records related to actual events." They also said the film does not identify any specific individual as being behind the incident.

The 31st Busan International Film Festival runs from Tuesday through Oct. 15 at the Busan Cinema Center and venues across the city.