Lee Min-ho Becomes Rookie Reporter In Historical Thriller The Assassin(s)

Lee Min-ho trades romance for a newsroom mystery built around a real assassination

Lee Min-ho is moving away from the polished romantic and fantasy characters that made him an international star, taking on the role of an inexperienced but determined newspaper reporter in the historical mystery thriller “The Assassin(s).”

Scheduled to open in South Korean theaters during the Chuseok holiday, the film is inspired by the assassination attempt against then-President Park Chung-hee on August 15, 1974. The attack instead claimed the life of South Korea’s first lady, Yuk Young-soo, and became one of the most consequential and debated incidents in the country’s modern political history.

Lee Min-ho investigates a deadly moment in Korean history in The Assassin(s) / Official IG

Newly released character stills introduce Lee as Young-il, a rookie reporter for the fictional newspaper Dongsung Ilbo. Young-il is covering the Liberation Day ceremony when gunfire erupts, placing him at the scene of both the attack and the death of an innocent victim. Troubled by what he witnesses, he begins searching for answers behind the official account of the incident.

The images show Lee with his tie loosened and his sleeves rolled up as he follows potential leads, while another photograph captures him watching a press conference with an intense, questioning expression. The styling presents Young-il as a working journalist under pressure rather than a glamorous media figure, emphasizing his lack of experience alongside the persistence that draws him deeper into the investigation.

Lee Min-ho joins an investigation told from three perspectives

Young-il is not the film’s only character pursuing the truth. “The Assassin(s)” builds its central mystery around three people who approach the shooting from different positions within 1970s Korean society.

Yoo Hae-jin plays Chul-gu, a police detective assigned to security at the ceremony who grows suspicious of the investigative headquarters’ conclusions. Park Hae-il portrays Jae-hwan, a veteran newspaper editor who continues reporting despite pressure from powerful figures. Lee’s Young-il provides the perspective of someone entering journalism at a moment when asking the wrong question could carry serious consequences.

This three-part structure allows the film to examine the same event through law enforcement, established media and a young eyewitness who has not yet become accustomed to institutional limits. While Chul-gu possesses access to the investigation and Jae-hwan understands how power can shape information, Young-il appears to be driven by the immediate shock of what he saw.

For Lee, the role represents another attempt to expand beyond the romantic leading-man image associated with globally successful dramas such as “Boys Over Flowers,” “The Heirs” and “The King: Eternal Monarch.” More recent projects, including Apple TV+’s multigenerational drama “Pachinko” and the fantasy action film “Omniscient Reader,” have placed him in morally complicated or genre-focused roles.

“The Assassin(s)” moves him into a period-set political mystery and surrounds him with performers closely associated with Korean cinema. Rather than carrying the story as a conventional heroic lead, Lee becomes one part of an ensemble whose characters possess different levels of authority, experience and access to the truth.

The real event behind The Assassin(s)

The historical foundation of the film is the shooting that occurred during a Liberation Day ceremony at the National Theater of Korea in Seoul on August 15, 1974.

During President Park Chung-hee’s commemorative address, Korean Japanese gunman Mun Se-gwang fired toward the stage in an apparent attempt to assassinate the president. One of the bullets struck first lady Yuk Young-soo, who died later that day. High school student Jang Bong-hwa was also killed during the incident.

Mun was arrested at the scene, prosecuted and executed in December 1974. However, questions surrounding the security failures, the precise circumstances of the shooting and the broader forces connected to the attack continued to generate public discussion.

The production has described “The Assassin(s)” as a work that combines surviving records with imagination to explore the questions left by the incident. Its detectives and journalists should therefore not automatically be interpreted as direct portrayals of particular historical individuals. The film is a dramatized mystery inspired by a real event, rather than a documentary claiming that every character and investigative development occurred exactly as presented.

That distinction is important because the title and premise invite audiences to look beyond the gunman who was arrested. By rendering the word “assassin” with a parenthetical plural, “The Assassin(s)” signals that the story will examine whether responsibility for a historic act can be understood through one person alone.

Lee Min-ho investigates a deadly moment in Korean history in The Assassin(s) / Official IG

A major departure for director Hur Jin-ho

The project also marks an intriguing genre turn for director Hur Jin-ho, whose reputation was built largely through emotionally restrained films about intimacy, memory and loss.

Hur debuted with “Christmas in August” in 1998 and later directed “One Fine Spring Day,” “April Snow,” “The Last Princess,” “Forbidden Dream” and “A Normal Family.” Although his filmography has expanded into historical drama and moral suspense, he remains best known for observing characters through subtle emotional changes rather than relying solely on spectacle.

That sensibility could give “The Assassin(s)” a different character from a conventional conspiracy thriller. The film’s subject naturally provides political tension, but its three central investigators also create space to examine how individuals respond when personal conscience conflicts with the institutions around them.

The production is handled by Hive Media Corp, the company behind major historical and political films including “12.12: The Day” and “The Man Standing Next.” Its involvement further positions “The Assassin(s)” within a prominent strand of Korean cinema that revisits decisive episodes in the country’s modern history through fictionalized personal perspectives.

The film will reach international audiences before its Korean release

“The Assassin(s)” has already secured a significant international platform. The film will hold its world premiere in the Gala Presentations program of the 51st Toronto International Film Festival, with TIFF scheduling its official presentation for September 13.

TIFF describes the project as a “large-canvas historical epic” based on the attempted assassination of Park Chung-hee, giving international viewers a clearer indication that the film’s scope extends beyond a single newsroom investigation.

The festival selection is particularly meaningful for Lee Min-ho because his global recognition has largely been built through television and streaming dramas. Presenting an ensemble-led Korean historical film at Toronto places a different side of his acting career before international critics, distributors and audiences.

Its theatrical release during Chuseok also signals considerable commercial ambition. The holiday is traditionally one of the most competitive periods for Korean cinemas, and the combination of a nationally significant historical event, an established director and a cast led by Yoo Hae-jin, Park Hae-il and Lee Min-ho gives the film appeal across different generations of viewers.

For Lee’s international fans, the initial attraction may be the transformation into a determined young reporter. The larger test, however, will be whether “The Assassin(s)” can turn a complicated chapter of Korean history into a mystery that remains accessible to viewers unfamiliar with the political climate of 1974.