One of the most prolific actresses of all time, Kim Ji-mee has been dubbed South Korea’s Elizabeth Taylor for her looks, popularity and a string of high-profile marriages that challenged social taboos.
As an actress and producer, she featured in more than 700 films before retiring in the 1990s, but her personal life was equally groundbreaking at a time when divorce in South Korea carried enormous stigma for women.
Now 79, her extraordinary life has been highlighted at this year’s Busan International Film Festival, Asia’s largest, where six of her movies were shown and she gave a series of talks.
Photo: AFP
In a sleek gray suit matching her silver pixie cut, Kim oozed elegance and poise in an interview with Agence France-Presse.
“I had to be strong ... in order not to be suppressed,” she said.
“I had to be active in every aspect in my life. When I was busiest, I worked for 30 films all at the same time. I had my own children, but I didn’t have the time to raise them,” she said.
Despite its economic advances, South Korea remains a conservative society where until 2015 anyone indulging in extramarital sex risked a prison sentence.
Kim married four times at a time when divorced women often faced enduring stigma and isolation.
Her spouses include a famed filmmaker, a star singer and top actor Choi Moo-ryong, who was married to another woman when he started dating Kim.
JAILED LOVERS
The two superstars were the highest-profile couple to be jailed for breaking the adultery law, spending about a week in prison in the early 1960s.
They eventually married, but the union ended six years later.
“Human beings have feelings, and therefore their minds can change,” Kim said. “And when things are bad and you know you can’t bear it, I don’t think you should simply endure. You should get out and better yourself.
“At the time I caused an unprecedented social scandal, but I think I’ve taken responsibility for all of my actions,” she added.
“I’ve lived my life with a sense of dignity,” she said.
Kim was spotted when she was 17 by late director Kim Ki-young, whose works continue to inspire many South Korean cineastes and their movies, including Parasite by Palme D’or winner Bong Joon-ho.
“He was a bit of an oddball,” the actress said of the director.
“He would often give no direction and guidance on acting. When he didn’t like something, he would just walk away and scratch his head from afar,” she added.
“There were many instances where I didn’t understand what was going on. But I understand things differently now. I think he was a genius,” she said.
She moved into production to make more socially critical movies, starting with 1986’s Ticket — in which she also starred as the madam of a coffee delivery service staffed by women made to provide sex services.
For the movie — one of those screened at the festival — Kim Ji-mee and renowned director Im Kwon-taek interviewed several women working in so-called “ticket cafes” in the port of Sokcho.
“We would pay for their coffee delivery service so they can come to our hotel, and listen to their stories for days in tears,” she said.
‘ANYTHING MEN CAN DO’
“This was a period when the whole country was beyond excited, because we were going to hold the Seoul Olympics [in 1988], but in reality impoverished women were being forced into such work in order to make ends meet,” she said, adding: “I was shocked and as a woman I was extremely infuriated.
Before the screening the film faced censorship from the then-military government — which claimed the movie “couldn’t possibly be based on true stories” — and a number of scenes had to be cut from the original version before it hit theaters.
A previous project, a tale about a traditional courtesan becoming a nun, was never completed because of strong opposition from the nation’s Buddhist orders, who thought the film’s theme was too provocative.
“Kim [Ji-mee] reigned as the most beautiful woman in South Korea for the longest possible time,” festival programmer Jung Mi said. “But Kim also has been a self-reliant woman and a strong human being.”
“In the field of cinema — where sexism can be at its worst within South Korea’s male-dominated society — Kim has always remained in the mainstream and never been an outsider,” Jung Mi added.
The actress headed a Korean cineastes’ rights group in the 1990s, and her wide network of friends and acquaintances included former South Korean president and Nobel laureate Kim Dae-jung.
“I’ve been ambitious,” she said. “Anything men can do, women can do too.”
FRAUD ALLEGED: The leader of an opposition alliance made allegations of electoral irregularities and called for a protest in Tirana as European leaders are to meet Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama’s Socialist Party scored a large victory in parliamentary elections, securing him his fourth term, official results showed late on Tuesday. The Socialist Party won 52.1 percent of the vote on Sunday compared with 34.2 percent for an alliance of opposition parties led by his main rival Sali Berisha, according to results released by the Albanian Central Election Commission. Diaspora votes have yet to be counted, but according to initial results, Rama was also leading there. According to projections, the Socialist Party could have more lawmakers than in 2021 elections. At the time, it won 74 seats in the
A Croatian town has come up with a novel solution to solve the issue of working parents when there are no public childcare spaces available: pay grandparents to do it. Samobor, near the capital, Zagreb, has become the first in the country to run a “Grandmother-Grandfather Service,” which pays 360 euros (US$400) a month per child. The scheme allows grandparents to top up their pension, but the authorities also hope it will boost family ties and tackle social isolation as the population ages. “The benefits are multiple,” Samobor Mayor Petra Skrobot told reporters. “Pensions are rather low and for parents it is sometimes
CANCER: Jose Mujica earned the moniker ‘world’s poorest president’ for giving away much of his salary and living a simple life on his farm, with his wife and dog Tributes poured in on Tuesday from across Latin America following the death of former Uruguayan president Jose “Pepe” Mujica, an ex-guerrilla fighter revered by the left for his humility and progressive politics. He was 89. Mujica, who spent a dozen years behind bars for revolutionary activity, lost his battle against cancer after announcing in January that the disease had spread and he would stop treatment. “With deep sorrow, we announce the passing of our comrade Pepe Mujica. President, activist, guide and leader. We will miss you greatly, old friend,” Uruguayan President Yamandu Orsi wrote on X. “Pepe, eternal,” a cyclist shouted out minutes later,
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
RSS