Actor Park Hye-su makes first public appearance in over a year at BIFF

Actor Park Hye-su made her first public appearance in a year and eight months on Sunday at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). The actor had taken a break from the public eye since 2021 following a school bullying scandal. Park attended ..

Actor Park Hye-su attends a discussion session on Oct. 9 for her film "The Dream Songs," which took place at the Korean Film building in Busan’s Haeundae District as part of the Busan International Film Festival. [YONHAP]

Actor Park Hye-su made her first public appearance in a year and eight months on Sunday at the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF). The actor had taken a break from the public eye since 2021 following a school bullying scandal.

Park attended Sunday’s discussion session with the audience for the film “The Dream Songs” (2022), in which she plays the lead, at the Korean Film Council building in Busan’s Haeundae District.

Park had been taking a hiatus since facing accusations from former schoolmates that claimed Park physically and verbally attacked them during their school years. Park dismissed the allegations as false and announced she would take legal action.

However, due to the allegations, the KBS series “Dear. M” which Park was the lead in, was indefinitely postponed last-minute.

“It’s been a long time,” she said to the audience at Sunday’s session. “Thank you so much for coming. I’m so happy that I can be here with you all.”

“We are trying our best to face and resolve it, instead of avoiding the situation,” she continued, regarding her bullying scandal. “If you wait a little more, I will take another opportunity to tell you more about it in detail, when things are sorted out."

Directed by actor Cho Hyun-chul, "The Dream Songs" centers around the romance between the two schoolgirls. It is also in remembrance of the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014. [YONHAP]

The audience greeted Park with loud applause and cheers. Park appeared relaxed for the remainder of the session.

“When I started filming [‘The Dream Songs’], I wasn’t very healthy mentally or physically,” Park said. “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 brought myself together to put all my sincerity and heart into this one film. I won’t be able to ever forget that moment.”

“The Dream Songs,” which was invited to screen at the Korean Cinema Today section of BIFF, tells the story of two high school students who try to find a way to go on a school trip together after one of them injures her leg.

Directed by actor Cho Hyun-chul, best known through the Netflix series “D.P.” (2021), the film centers around the romance that develops between the two schoolgirls. It is also in remembrance of the Sewol ferry disaster in 2014, which took the lives of 299 people, most of them high school students who were on their way to Jeju Island for a school trip.

BY HALEY YANG [yang.hyunjoo@joongang.co.kr]