BUSAN, South Korea - South Korean actress Park Hye-soo has re-emerged at the Busan International Film Festival (Biff) following a school bullying scandal that caused the 27-year-old actress to take a break from public activities for a year and eight months.
According to South Korean news outlets, she appeared at a panel discussion session with audiences for her film The Dream Songs.
Park was accused of bullying in February 2021 by former schoolmates, who say the star verbally abused and physically assaulted them in their schooling days. The Hello, My Twenties! (2016 to 2017) actress has denied the allegations. Her agency has also announced that it will take legal action against those who have spread malicious rumours.
As a result of the allegations, a romance drama starring Park titled Dear. M, which was supposed to debut in February 2021, was postponed and aired only in June 2022.
According to news outlet Korea JoongAng Daily, Park addressed the school bullying allegations when she appeared at the film festival, where she was welcomed with warm applause.
She says of the scandal: “We are trying our best to face and resolve it, instead of avoiding the situation.”
She tells the audience: “If you wait a little more, I will take another opportunity to tell you more about it in detail, when things are sorted out.”
The Dream Songs is directed by actor-director Cho Hyun-chul, who has appeared in television series such as military-themed D.P. (2021). In the movie, Park and fellow actress Kim Si-eun play schoolgirls who spend a surreal day together before a scheduled class trip.
Park says she was not “very healthy mentally or physically” while she was making the movie.
“But meeting this film was like fate. I felt nothing but love throughout the filming. It was my first independent film, and I could feel that I really pulled myself together to put all my sincerity and heart into this one film. I won’t be able to ever forget that,” she adds.
In a YouTube video posted by Biff, director Cho praised the performances of Park and Kim and told audiences to watch out for the character of Se-mi (Park) and how she “overcomes self-loathing, anxiety, misunderstanding, anger and fatigue”.
