Leading S. Korean directors to visit U.S. for film promotion

LOS ANGELES, Sept. 20 (Yonhap) — Two famous South Korean directors — Park Chan-wook and Kim Jee-woon — will visit Los Angeles next week to promote their latest films ahead of their imminent releases in North American theaters, the Korean Cultural Center here said Tuesday.

Park will come to Los Angeles on Monday to attend a special preview of his new erotic thriller “The Handmaiden,” the center said, adding that Kim will also visit here the following day to attend a preview of his latest espionage thriller “The Age of Shadows.”

In this photo released by the Associated Press on May 14, 2016, South Korean director Park Chan-wook (C) poses for photographers with actors Ha Jung-woo, Kim Tae-ri, Kim Min-hee and Jo Jin-woong (from L) at the screening of his film “The Handmaiden” at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France.

“The Age of Shadows,” whose accumulated number of viewers in South Korea crossed a 6-million mark as of Tuesday since its opening on Sept. 7, is scheduled to simultaneously hit the screens in some 40 other North American cities, including New York, Chicago, Toronto and Vancouver on Friday.

Park’s thriller depicting a conspiracy to seize a mysterious heiress’ assets is also set to be released in North America on Oct. 14.

On Monday, Park, along with actress Kim Tae-ri, who starred in “The Handmaiden,” will hold a news conference at the Korean culture center, and then attend a preview for professors and students majoring in cinema at the Sundance Theater in West Hollywood, the center said.

He is also scheduled to meet with American filmmakers during another preview for his film at Soho House here, it said.

South Korean director Kim Jee-woon speaks during a press preview of his new film “The Age of Shadows” at a Seoul theater on Aug. 25, 2016

On Tuesday, Kim will also meet with professors and students at a preview to talk about the production behind his latest film, according to the center.

Kim’s movie attracts keen attention here as it has been selected as the South Korean entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards this year, it added.