South Korean director investigated in abuse case

SEOUL - South Korean prosecutors are investigating award-winning film director Kim Ki-duk after an actress accused him of hitting her and trying to force her into shooting off-script sexual scenes while making a 2013 movie.

An official from the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on Thursday said the director will be questioned but it hasn't been determined when. He spoke on condition of anonymity because of office rules.

Ahn Byung-ho of the Federation of Korea Movie Workers' Union said the actress dropped out of the filming because of Kim's alleged abuse and recently reported the case to the union after suffering from "psychological pain" for years.

The movie, Moebius, a dark and violent story about an estranged family, was released in 2013 after Kim finished filming with a different actress.

Kim and his production company did not answer repeated calls for comment.

The Dong-A Ilbo newspaper reported that Kim told a reporter he had slapped the actress while instructing her acting, but he denied trying to force her into filming off-script scenes.

Kim won the top prize in the Venice Film Festival with his 2012 film Pieta, a brutal mother-and-son tale of revenge and redemption. While his movies often garner critical acclaim, many moviegoers, especially women, consider them to be disturbing because of excessive violence and depictions of rape and castration.

Associated Press