[Edaily Starin Gim Ga Yeong Reporter] The movie "The Assassin(s)" continues to hold the No. 1 spot at the box office despite the controversy.

According to the Korean Film Council’s integrated computer network on the 3rd, “The Assassin(s)” topped the overall box office with a cumulative audience count of 1,890,414 as of 7 a.m. that day. Although several new releases followed, the film managed to hold onto the top spot on the box office chart.
“The Assassin(s)” is a film that draws inspiration from the 1974 assassination attempt on First Lady Yuk Young-soo, using cinematic imagination to reconstruct the stories of the figures involved in the incident.
However, ongoing controversy surrounding the film has sparked a heated debate within and outside the political and film industries.
The fallout is also affecting the actors. Criticism has been directed even at actors who watched the film or praised it, and the comment sections on promotional videos for Burking and Kiwoom Securities—for which cast member Yoo Hae-jin serves as a model—have been disabled. A video in which film critic Lee Dong-jin reviewed *The Assassin(s)* has been set to private.
The Busan International Film Festival canceled the “Actors’ House” event in which actor Lee Min-ho was scheduled to participate. The Korean Film Producers Association also issued a statement the previous day, stating that while criticism and evaluation of the film should be respected, it expressed concern over excessive criticism directed at individual creators—including the production company, director, actors, and staff—as well as the spread of unverified information.
However, despite the controversy, audience turnout continues to grow. “The Assassin(s)” is just about 110,000 viewers shy of reaching the 2 million mark. It is predicted to surpass 2 million viewers during the holiday period, which runs through the 5th.