Lee Min-ho Says Sensationalism Is Winning Over Truth As He Takes On Journalist Role In ‘the Assassin(s)’

Lee Min-ho Says Truth Is Being Pushed Aside by Sensationalism / Bazaar

In his new film The Assassin(s), Lee Min-ho plays a rookie reporter investigating one of Korea’s most shocking historical incidents, a role that made him reconsider the value of truth in an age driven by attention.

Lee Min-ho believes society has entered an age in which the most provocative story can receive more attention than the most truthful one.

That concern became one of the reasons he joined director Hur Jin-ho’s new historical mystery film The Assassin(s).

Speaking in an interview for the October issue of Harper’s Bazaar Korea, Lee explained that the project’s central idea could be summarized in one word: truth.

“I think we are living in an era where sensationalism comes before truth,” Lee said. “That made the efforts and convictions of people who continued to believe in the value of truth, despite the restrictions of their time, appear even more meaningful.”

The comment was not simply a general observation about modern media. It directly connects to Lee’s character, Han Young-il, a rookie newspaper reporter who becomes involved in the investigation of a politically sensitive shooting.

Lee Min-ho Says Truth Is Being Pushed Aside by Sensationalism / Bazaar

Lee Min-ho Plays a Reporter Who Refuses to Stop Questioning

The Assassin(s) is inspired by the attempted assassination of South Korean President Park Chung-hee on August 15, 1974.

The attack took place during a Liberation Day ceremony and resulted in the death of First Lady Yuk Young-soo. Rather than presenting itself as a documentary reconstruction, the movie uses surviving records, unresolved questions and fictional interpretation to construct a mystery surrounding the incident and its possible background.

Lee plays Han Young-il, an inexperienced but determined reporter who was present at the scene. He is joined by Park Hae-il as social affairs editor Kim Jae-hwan and Yoo Hae-jin as police officer Park Cheol-gu.

The film opened in South Korean theaters on September 23, 2026. It is the first movie to place the 1974 incident at the center of a cinematic mystery, according to promotional information released ahead of its Chuseok premiere.

Young-il’s inexperience gives Lee an important position within the story. He is not an all-knowing investigator who understands the political machinery surrounding him. He is a young reporter learning how difficult it can be to identify the truth when official statements, personal testimony and physical evidence do not align.

His lack of authority may also make his persistence more meaningful. Young-il has little institutional power, but he continues to ask questions.

Why the Story Feels Relevant in 2026

Lee’s comments give the historical movie a distinctly contemporary dimension.

Information now travels faster than the process required to verify it. A dramatic allegation can dominate public attention before its accuracy has been established, while corrections often struggle to reach the same audience.

Lee did not frame truth only as a journalistic responsibility. He argued that sincerity should remain valuable in personal relationships, organizations and society as a whole.

“Truth can sometimes be considered old-fashioned these days,” he said. “But I believe sincerity deserves respect, whether it exists between individuals or within a particular group in the structure of society.”

That perspective makes Young-il more than a period-drama character. His struggle reflects a problem that remains familiar decades after the historical event depicted in the film.

The tools have changed, but the conflict between verified information, institutional power and emotionally powerful narratives has not disappeared.

Lee Min-ho Says Truth Is Being Pushed Aside by Sensationalism / Bazaar

Three Investigators, Three Different Ways of Finding Answers

The mystery is divided among three men who approach the incident differently.

Park Hae-il’s Kim Jae-hwan investigates from inside the newspaper office. He collects evidence, compares information and attempts to reach a logical conclusion through reporting.

Yoo Hae-jin’s Park Cheol-gu operates in the field. He follows his instincts as a police officer, visits locations and physically traces the questions that emerge during the investigation.

Lee Min-ho’s Young-il brings urgency and youthful conviction. As the least experienced member of the group, he has not yet become comfortable with compromise. That makes him capable of asking questions that more established figures might avoid.

Together, the three characters give the audience multiple routes into the same mystery. One follows evidence, another follows experience, and the youngest follows the belief that unanswered questions should not simply be abandoned.

The Parentheses in ‘The Assassin(s)’ Are a Clue

Even the film’s Korean title, 암살자(들), contains a deliberate uncertainty.

The word meaning “assassins” places the plural marker inside parentheses. Park Hae-il explained that the unusual punctuation functions as a signal to the audience.

The title does not simply ask who fired a weapon. It encourages viewers to consider how many people can contribute to an event, conceal information or benefit from an accepted version of the truth.

The “assassin” may therefore represent more than one identifiable individual. The parentheses invite suspicion before the investigation has even begun.

Lee Min-ho Steps Into a Different Kind of Leading Role

Lee Min-ho became internationally recognized through romantic dramas including Boys Over Flowers, The Heirs and The King: Eternal Monarch. His later work in Apple TV+’s Pachinko allowed him to present a more morally complicated and restrained performance.

The Assassin(s) continues that expansion, placing him inside an ensemble led by Yoo Hae-jin and Park Hae-il rather than building the movie solely around his star image.

The Korea Film Council lists both Gangnam Blues and The Assassin(s) among Lee’s feature-film credits, while describing him as one of the major Korean Wave stars to emerge from television.

As Young-il, Lee is not playing the most powerful person in the room. He plays someone who must observe, question and earn the right to be heard.

That restraint could become one of the film’s most interesting uses of his screen presence.

‘The Assassin(s)’ Asks What Happens When Truth Loses Its Power

Lee Min-ho’s statement about sensationalism could easily be separated from the movie and circulated as commentary on social media, journalism or celebrity culture.

Within the context of The Assassin(s), however, it becomes more specific.

The film asks what happens when the official account of an event fails to answer every question, and when the people searching for clarity must work within political and institutional limits.

Young-il’s investigation may take place in 1974, but Lee sees its central dilemma as something audiences still recognize.

Facts do not automatically become powerful simply because they are true. Someone must find them, verify them and remain willing to defend them when a more convenient or provocative narrative takes their place.

For Lee Min-ho, that belief was what made the role worth choosing.

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