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A Japanese film inspired by the assassination of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has drawn controversy after it emerged that the script identified the true killer as a “Korean hitman.”
Seo Kyoung-duk, a professor at Sungshin Women’s University, relayed the news on the 18th and criticized the project, saying that “if it had actually been produced, it would have amounted to a serious diplomatic affront.”
“Above all, it can only be seen as a ‘cheap ploy’ by right-wing forces seeking commercial gain by stoking anti-Korean sentiment,” Seo said. “Japan also appears to be growing increasingly insecure about Korea.”
Earlier, on the 15th, the Japanese current affairs magazine Gendai Business disclosed the contents of the screenplay, citing an entertainment industry official. The film’s production plan was recently suspended.
According to the report, the film centers on a religious group that resents a sitting prime minister enjoying strong public support, plots his assassination and dispatches a contract killer.
A character evoking Tetsuya Yamagami, who was arrested as the shooter in the actual killing of Abe, reportedly appears as a scapegoat meant to conceal the real culprit.
The script held that the assassin who actually pulled the trigger was someone else, and cast that figure as a “Korean hitman,” or contract killer.
The production was ultimately halted. Critics argued that a film adaptation was premature while Yamagami’s trial was still underway, after he was sentenced to life in prison in the first trial on charges including the murder of Abe and appealed the verdict.
Abe was shot and killed by Yamagami in July 2022 while campaigning in support of candidates in the city of Nara, Nara Prefecture, Japan.
The screenplay also drew critical reactions online in South Korea. Internet users wrote comments such as “Far from reflecting on past wrongs, they are repeating them,” “The real culprit is one of their own citizens, so this comes out of nowhere. It is an expression of insecurity,” and “Everyone knows the perpetrator was a local Japanese man and a former Maritime Self-Defense Force officer.”
#ShinzoAbe#JapaneseFilm#SeoKyoungduk#Yamagami#KoreaJapan#AntiKorean
Original reporting by Cho Su-yeon for Seoul Economic Daily.
AI-translated from Korean. Quotes from foreignxact original wording
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