▲ Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young answers questions from lawmakers during a parliamentary audit of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism held at the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee on Oct. 7, 2026. (Yonhap)

 

SEOUL, Oct. 7 (Yonhap) -- Culture Minister Choi Hwi-young said Wednesday that "there should be no restrictions on imagination and creativity" amid controversy over alleged historical distortion in the film "Assassins."

 

Choi made the remarks during a parliamentary audit by the National Assembly's Culture, Sports and Tourism Committee, in response to a question from Rep. Yoon Yong-geun of the ruling People Power Party on whether turning historical events into films should be considered an area of unlimited creative freedom.

 

Asked whether the film's content constitutes historical distortion, however, Choi drew a line, saying, "It is not something for me to judge. I believe it is for the public and audiences to judge."

 

He stressed that "in our country, where freedom of expression is guaranteed and prior censorship is strictly prohibited, the government does not interfere in the content of creative works at all."

 

Asked what action should be taken if the film contains distortions, Choi said, "If anyone feels that they have suffered serious defamation, judicial procedures are available."

 

Choi also rejected criticism that it was inappropriate for him to express his views on social media over excessive acts of harassment targeting actors who appeared in the film.

 

"If the culture minister does not step in when acts are committed that harm the products of creative work, then who will?" Choi said.

 

He added, "What I wrote on social media was intended to express concern about a situation in which criticism of a film is leading to threats against the personal safety of individual cultural artists."

 

"I made efforts to take various preventive and safety measures to prevent the situation from developing into something more serious," he said.

 

▲ This poster of South Korean film "Assassins" is provided by Hive Media Corp. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE)(Yonhap)

 

On Oct. 5, Choi criticized protests outside the homes of actors including Yoo Hae-jin and disruptions to advertising activities through social media, saying, "Criticism of a film is a matter of freedom, but threats to the personal safety of creators are the destruction of democracy."

 

Regarding allegations that ruling party lawmakers intervened in the government's investment in "Assassins" through the state-run Film Industry Fund, Choi said, "The fund that invested in the film was not the government fund itself but a sub-fund established under the previous administration."

 

"The fund's management companies make investment decisions based on their own assessments of profitability, and the government does not intervene at all," he said.

 

During Wednesday's parliamentary audit, People Power Party lawmakers requested that director Hur Jin-ho and other members of the "Assassins" production team appear as witnesses and reference witnesses, but the requests were rejected following opposition from committee chair Lee Jae-jung and lawmakers of the Democratic Party.

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