[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@ajunews.com]
South Korea's award-winning actress Kim Min-hee and director Hong Sang-soo acknowledged their relationship for the first time since their love scandal surfaced in June last year.
Wearing couple rings on their fingers, the two made their first public appearance together at home Monday and said they were in love. Hong, 57, and Kim, 34, have maintained an extramarital relationship since last June. Hong filed for a divorce from his wife in November last year after moving out of his home.
"We're in love. We truly love each other," Hong said after the press screening in Seoul of his latest film "On the Beach At Night Alone". Kim also admitted she is in "true love" with the director and is ready to endure criticism.
Last month they attended the 67th Berlin International Film Festival together and Kim won the Silver Bear for Best Actress, becoming the first Korean to clinch the honor at the Berlinale. She played the role of Young-hee, an actress pondering her relationship with a married movie director while drinking with friends in a seaside town shortly after returning from a trip to Germany.
[Photo by Yoo Dae-gil = dbeorlf123@ajunews.com]
Kim was invited to the 2016 Cannes Film Festival for her role in "The Handmaiden". She starred as Japanese heiress Hideko in the hit movie directed by Park Chan-wook known for his harrowing film Oldboy.
Hong, known for budget arthouse films such as Cannes winner "Hahaha" (2010), met with Kim when she was playing the lead role in "Right Now, Wrong Then" which won the top prize at Locarno International Film Festival in 2015.
Lim Chang-won = cwlim34@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
