Can the film Assassins, currently topping the South Korean box office, be punished under the crime of defamation of the dead? The film has sparked strong backlash from the opposition party by raising the hypothesis that the government of the time was behind the August 15, 1974 Liberation Day assassination of First Lady Yook Young-soo, wife of former President Park Chung-hee. While Joo Jin-woo, a People Power Party lawmaker and former prosecutor, argued that "it clearly falls under the crime of defamation of the dead," the production team countered by asking viewers to "view it merely as a product of creative imagination."

According to a review of past rulings by Kyunghyang Shinmun on the 29th, it is difficult to find cases where creative works dealing with historical events were actually punished under the crime of defamation of the dead. The crime of defamation of the dead penalizes "anyone who defames a deceased person by publicly disseminating false facts." However, there must be an intent to disseminate false facts, and the crime is not established for subjective expressions of opinion regarding history.

Producer Yoon and writer Lee, who directed the KBS drama Seoul 1945, were indicted in 2006 on charges of defaming former President Syngman Rhee and former Prime Minister Chang Taek-sang, but were acquitted in the first, second, and third trials. In 2010, the Supreme Court stated, "As long as fictional depictions do not lose historical plausibility, it should not be concluded that they are false or that there was an awareness of falsity," adding, "It is difficult to view mere speculations or evaluations of Syngman Rhee as the dissemination of specific false facts that he engaged in pro-Japanese activities."

Director Kim and producer Choi of the historical documentary The Centennial War, produced by the Center for Historical Truth and Justice, were also indicted in 2007 [Note: 2017 in original text] on charges of defaming former President Syngman Rhee. After being acquitted in the first and second trials, the prosecution abandoned its appeal, finalizing the acquittal. In the 2019 appellate trial, the court stated, "Although the substantial truth cannot be known, it is difficult to see that there is objective evidence clearly proving it to be false," adding, "It is also difficult to say that the defendants had the intent that it was false." In the first trial conducted through a citizen participation trial, most jurors returned a not-guilty verdict, and the court also delivered an acquittal.

Kim Sang-hoon, managing partner at Trust Law Firm, stated, " Assassins begins with a subtitle stating it was 'adapted based on a true story,' and major figures use names different from their real-life counterparts," adding, "Considering court precedents that broadly guarantee freedom of expression, the possibility of punishment under the crime of defamation of the dead is low."

The crime of defamation of the dead is a crime subject to official complaint upon a formal accusation, meaning it can only be prosecuted if the deceased person's relatives or descendants file a direct complaint. For Assassins, former President Park Geun-hye, former Yook Young Foundation Chairperson Park Geun-ryung, and EG Group Chairman Park Ji-man would need to file direct complaints to initiate police investigations. In the past, complaints regarding Seoul 1945 were filed with the prosecution by Lee In-soo, the son of former President Syngman Rhee, and Chang Byung-hye, the daughter of former Prime Minister Chang Taek-sang; for The Centennial War, complaints were filed by Lee In-soo.

Lee Jong-bae, a former Seoul Metropolitan Council member affiliated with the People Power Party, filed a police complaint on the same day against Assassins Director Hur Jin-ho and others on charges of defamation through the dissemination of false facts. As former Council Member Lee is not a relative of former President Park Chung-hee, he appears to have filed the complaint on the grounds of defamation against the surviving family members. Lee claimed, "It not only seriously damages the historical evaluation of the deceased but also undermines the social evaluation of the surviving family members and defames them."

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