Special committee in South Korea urges eradication of violent practices on film-sets
Call comes after well-known filmmaker allegedly slapped an actress in the face and forced her to shoot an unscripted sex scene

By Kim Jae-heun
A joint special committee, established to deal with Korean filmmaker Kim Ki-dukâs assault on an anonymous actress, has urged the industry to end all kinds of violence against actresses, which has been excused as a routine practice in filmmaking.
The committee, consisting of 136 film and womenâs rights organisations at the Seoul Bar Association argued that committing violence to evoke an actorâs empathy while shooting scenes cannot be justified as effective or ethical directing.
âFilmmaker Kim Ki-dukâs case is about Kim abusing his power as a director, having supreme status and unconditional control on the set,â said a committee member. âHe took advantage of the long-standing custom in the film industry, which must be eradicated as it infringes directly on human rights and dignity.â
The committee also urged the prosecution to investigate the case fairly and thoroughly amid flourishing speculative articles trying to identify the actress and the reason why she has revealed the case four years after it happened. It said such reports are obscuring the essence of the case and hampering the debate to solve the problems with the infringement of an actorâs human rights in the scene.
The committee has decided to receive reports about sexual assault and human rights infringement cases for a month up to September 7 by phone through the Korea Womenâs Human Rights Centre.
The filmmaker has been accused of hitting an actress and forcing her to shoot sex scenes for his drama film âMoebiusâ (2013).
