In an interview published on Wednesday in the South Korean daily newspaper, Chosun Ilbo, Kim clarified her comments, and said she had never meant to suggest that any alleged sexual harassment had taken place during the filming, and had not intended to criticise Bong in her earlier comments.

The controversy began when Kim and Bong were both guests at a black-and-white screening of the film Mother on May 9.

While answering questions raised by members of the audience, Kim said that in one of the scenes, actor Won Bin – who played the son of her character in the film – had got into the bed with her and then touched her breast – an action that was not in the initial script.

Kim said at the screening that she “stayed still” at the time, thinking “there must be a reason behind his action”.

At the time she suggested she did not know in advance that it was going to happen.

Her remarks, which were posted on social media, caused heated discussions, with some people suggesting that Kim had claimed she was the victim of sexual misconduct during filming.

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However, last Wednesday, Barunson Enter & Arts, the production company involved in Bong’s latest film, Parasite, said that it had since checked with Kim, who now said that she had forgotten about the direction given to her by Bong before filming that particular scene.

The production company also said that Bong had not tried to challenge Kim about her remarks made during the screening “because he did not want to embarrass her”.

“Director Bong said ‘Do-joon [Won Bin] might touch your breast’ and I thought that a boy with mental illness could touch his mother’s breast while she is asleep,” Kim said in clarification.

She also said she would have no reason to accuse the director of doing anything untoward during the making of the film 10 years ago.

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“I think there could be some people who misunderstood what I said,” she said.

“I made a slip of the tongue, while trying to entertain the audience.”

She also criticised social media users for their online comments in response to her comments at the film screening.

“I cannot believe people are thinking so low of the actors,” she said.

“How can they think like that?

“The [mother] sleeps without taking off her clothes, including her socks, because she is so worried that her son, who has a mental illness, might cause trouble.

“Some people [have] alleged that director Bong and actor Won conspired to sexually harass me, which is ridiculous.”

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Bong is known for directing box-office hits including the 2006 monster film, The Host, and the 2013 science fiction film, Snowpiercer.

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