BIFF-sexual harassment

▲ Huh Moon-young, director of the Busan International Film Festival, speaks during a press conference in the southeastern port city of Busan, in this file photo taken on Oct. 14, 2022. (Yonhap)

▲ A pedestrian passes by a Busan International Film Festival sign in front of the Busan Cinema Center in Busan, in this file photo taken May 15, 2023. (Yonhap)

BIFF-sexual harassment

Busan film festival apologizes over alleged sexual harassment case involving ex-director

BUSAN, June 15 (Yonhap) -- The Busan International Film Festival (BIFF), Asia's largest film festival, apologized Thursday over the mishandling of a sexual harassment case allegedly involving its former executive director, Huh Moon-young.

Huh offered to step down on May 11 in protest of BIFF's decision to create a joint director post, spawning rumors over the true reason for his abrupt departure before his three-year term ends in March 2024 and causing concerns about the festival just five months away.

BIFF released a statement May 31 that Huh was quitting over "personal matters," and the board of directors approved his resignation two days later.

According to a local media report, however, an employee reported the allegations to the Center for Gender Equality in Korean Cinema, telling it about Huh's alleged sexual harassment and inappropriate work orders, after he tendered his resignation.

In response, BIFF apologized for its mishandling of the sexual harassment case by vaguely citing the reason behind Huh's resignation and not taking prompt measures in regard to the case.

"We sincerely apologize over the sexual harassment case that occurred in the workplace," BIFF said in a statement.

The festival said it will designate a sexual harassment consulting center in Busan to investigate the case in a thorough and transparent manner.

"We will faithfully conduct an internal probe in line with the Center for Gender Equality in Korean Cinema's recommendations and come up with a system to prevent recurrences," it said.

BIFF said its board of directors accepted Huh's resignation in consideration of several issues related to the film festival's management and that reversing its decision is not feasible.

"We have looked into ways to correct this incident by reviewing Supreme Court precedents and legal advice, and concluded that nullifying his resignation would be illegal," BIFF said.

Meanwhile, Huh denied the sexual harassment allegations and claimed he left due to concerns over the issue's potential negative impact on this year's festival, which is slated to run from Oct. 5-14.

The former movie critic was a Korean cinema programmer at BIFF from 2002-2006 and served as the director of the Cinematheque Busan from 2005-2011. The influential figure in the movie industry also served as a jury member for Critics' Week at the Cannes Film Festival last year.

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