'The Assassin' protests reach actor Yoo Hae-jin's home, sparking free speech debate

By Tuesday morning, the quiet residential alley outside actor Yoo Hae-jin's home in Seongbuk-dong, Seongbuk-gu, Seoul showed little trace of the dozens of protesters who had gathered there with loudspeakers two days earlier. The lane was nearly empty, with no demonstrators in sight. The loudest rally, held Sunday, had briefly continued into Monday morning before fading away almost entirely.

For residents, however, the noise was still fresh. A neighbor encountered near the home recalled that Sunday afternoon had been extremely loud. "Dozens of people were coming and going," the resident said. "They kept talking through speakers and megaphones the whole time."

A dispute over the historical interpretation presented in the film "The Assassin" has spilled onto the doorstep of its lead actor, with some conservative groups expanding their protests from Yoo's home to the film's production company and its advertisers. The film industry, meanwhile, has expressed concern that targeting an actor's private residence — rather than critiquing the work itself — could have a chilling effect on creative and expressive freedom.

The conservative group Sinjayunyeondae held a rally outside the home Sunday afternoon to denounce the film's production company and cast. Police informally estimated about 50 people attended. The group had also filed notice of plans to hold daily rallies of around 20 people from Oct. 3 through Oct. 30.

The film is based on the 1974 assassination attempt on first lady Yuk Young-soo. Sinjayunyeondae and other conservative groups have said the film implies that then-President Park Chung-hee or the Central Intelligence Agency may have been involved in the attack, calling it a distortion of history. The production team has said the film is not intended to establish any new historical conclusions or deny established facts.

The protests took place in a hillside residential neighborhood of detached and multi-unit homes. Residents who spoke at the scene said that while they occasionally encounter union demonstrations near the homes of business executives in the area, this rally felt different in character.

A 65-year-old resident who said she had lived in the area for about 30 years acknowledged that union rallies outside executives' homes were not unusual. "In those cases, there's a direct interest at stake, so people make their case," she said. "But this time feels different." She added that if there were problems with the film, complaints should be directed at the production company or director. "What has the actor done wrong? Acting is just his job," she said.

Sinjayunyeondae has indicated it will not continue rallying outside Yoo's home. A group representative said holding demonstrations there was "no longer meaningful" and that "once was enough as a symbolic gesture." The representative added that the sloped residential street was not a suitable rally venue and said the group would shift its focus to targeting companies.

The protests have since moved toward the production company and advertisers. Hoguknyeonhap Bangsaedan announced a rally outside MEDIAcorp to denounce the filmmakers and cast, while Sinjayunyeondae and Bellado separately announced demonstrations demanding that advertisers terminate their endorsement contracts with Yoo and other cast members.

Sinjayunyeondae said it was not enough for advertisements to simply be pulled — the modeling contracts themselves must be canceled. A group representative said that if the demand was not met, the group would launch a boycott campaign against the advertisers.

The government entered the fray Monday when Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Choi Hwi-yeong publicly criticized the rally outside Yoo's home. "Criticism of a film is a matter of freedom, but threatening the physical safety of a creator is an act of destroying democracy," Choi said, calling on the Korean National Police Agency and other relevant authorities to take protective measures for those involved in the film and to strictly enforce the law against any illegal conduct.

Police said they would respond firmly if actual threats or intimidation were confirmed. Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency Commissioner Ko Beom-seok said at a regular briefing Monday that "any threats or intimidation directed at the actor will of course be handled strictly in accordance with the law." Neither Yoo nor his agency has requested personal protection, but police said they were prepared to consider enhanced patrols or protective measures if needed.

Sinjayunyeondae filed a defamation complaint against Minister Choi with the Seoul Serious Crimes Investigation Unit on Tuesday morning. In a statement distributed the same day, the group said it had held "a peaceful denunciation rally based on the constitutionally guaranteed freedom of assembly and the Assembly and Demonstration Act," adding that Yoo had not even been at home during the rally and that the group had made no threats or acts of intimidation against him.

The group sharply criticized the minister's intervention, saying it was not her place to weigh in and that she should have verified the facts before speaking out.

Yoo's agency, meanwhile, announced it would pursue legal action against defamatory statements and the spread of false information about the actor. The agency said it was collecting relevant posts and materials and would take all available measures against any conduct that invaded the actor's privacy or threatened his safety.

The film industry has also called for a clear distinction between criticizing a work and attacking the individuals who appeared in it. A representative of the Film Industry Solidarity said the group's core position was that "discussions about a film must not translate into threats to an individual's safety" and that "no one should face threats simply for having participated in a production, regardless of how its historical interpretation is assessed." The group has formed a dedicated task force and is consulting with the production company on next steps.

Cultural producer Ryu Jae-hyeon said targeting an actor for doing his job raised a troubling question. "If we condemn actors for giving their all to a role, what actor could survive?" he said. "A work should be judged as a work, and an actor as an actor." He added that he hoped people would set aside political logic and show mutual respect, calling it "immature to extend judgment beyond the film to the actor as an individual."

Popular culture critic Kim Heon-sik said it was difficult to understand why responsibility was being placed on a specific actor. "The conversation should be about the work itself — protesting an actor over the role they played is not appropriate," he said. Kim added that in a democratic society, audiences should be free to form their own judgments. "If there are objectionable elements in a film, people can express their views," he said. "But pressuring a specific actor or trying to prevent people from seeing the film is not the right approach."