Locarno Film Festival Live Updates: Director Hong Sang-Soo and Partner Kim Min-Hee Win Big

Take a closer look at Locarno Film Festival Live Updates: Director Hong Sang-Soo and Partner Kim Min-Hee Win Big in this comprehensive feature.

The continued success in Western cultural capitals stands in sharp opposition to their standing in South Korea. When Hong and Kim publicly acknowledged their relationship in early 2017 during a press event in Seoul, the domestic fallout was immediate. South Korean family law preserves fault-based divorce standards, and the court rejected Hong’s petition for divorce from his wife in 2019. Consequently, mainstream corporate sponsors severed ties with Kim, abruptly halting what had been a meteoric commercial career following Park Chan-wook’s 2016 hit The Handmaiden.

The Korean press remains fascinated by the couple's personal life. Domestic news outlets, including reports in The Chosun Ilbo and regional entertainment portals, have closely followed sightings of the pair in Seoul suburbs, frequently tracking rumors regarding their family and domestic arrangements. Online comment sections in Korea frequently focus on traditional morality and marital ethics, maintaining a chilly reception toward both figures.

Conversely, film circles in Paris, Berlin, and New York view the relationship through the lens of romantic auteurism. Cinephiles draw parallels to historic collaborations like Jean-Luc Godard and Anna Karina, or Michelangelo Antonioni and Monica Vitti. On the international circuit, their off-screen relationship is seen not as a tabloid scandal, but as the raw fuel driving an intimate, hyper-personal cinematic universe.