Yoo Hae-jin under police protection as opposition targets film 'The Assassin(s)' at home and abroad

2.5 million tickets, one actor under police guard

The Assassin(s) opened October 10, 2026. Within 15 days it crossed 2.5 million admissions. Its lead actor, Yoo Hae-jin, was placed under police protection.

The protection followed a sustained political campaign against the film. On October 8, People Power Party lawmaker Ju Jin-woo publicly disclosed the cast's running guarantees—performance-based incentives that are standard in Korean film contracts—and called them "unjust profit." He then made personal remarks about Yoo Hae-jin's appearance, describing it as "North Korean-style." The film industry treated this as a direct personal attack.

Opposition writes to Singapore, Singapore doesn't blink

The Assassin(s) was selected as the opening film of the 37th Singapore International Film Festival. Every PPP lawmaker signed a letter requesting the screening be cancelled. SGIFF refused. "We fully respect the creative vision of the production team and will screen it unchanged as the opening film," the festival said.

Nineteen Korean film industry organizations issued an emergency statement: "Do not use films as a tool for political disputes and do not attack individual filmmakers."

Five countries, one story

The controversy landed in international press. Variety reported it. The Independent reported it. South China Morning Post reported it. The Straits Times reported it. Hindustan Times reported it. A domestic Korean political dispute over a single film, covered across five continents—that rarely happens.

(SGIFF's refusal to pull the film, stated in plain language, may be the most-quoted sentence of this whole saga.)