President Moon Jae-in attends the Busan International Film Festival on Oct. 15.

By Lee Hana

Photos = Cheong Wa Dae

President Moon Jae-in attended the Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) on Oct. 15, the first time for a sitting president to visit the annual festival.

The president enjoyed the film "Missing" that day at a cinema in Haeundae District in eastern Busan. Excited by the president`s surprise visit, audience members approached the head-of-state for a handshake, some even asking for a selfie.

A meet-and-greet with President Moon, as well as with E Oni, the film`s director, and lead actresses Kong Hyo-jin and Uhm Ji-won, followed the screening.

"I`m really happy to have seen such a great film. It was beyond my expectations," said the president. 

"I also thought that the title of the film, which alludes to the `missing women,` had a dual meaning. In one sense, it could point to the women who have been marginalized from our society. Conversely, it could mean that women have lost their voices," he said. 

The film "Missing," first released in 2016, centers on a divorced working mom, Ji-sun, who`s suddenly faced with the unfairness of society when her nanny, Han-Mae, an ethnic Korean woman from China, kidnaps her daughter and disappears.

President Moon Jae-in greets the audience following a screening of the film `Missing,` one of the films selected for the Busan International Film Festival, in Busan on Oct. 15.

The president then held a luncheon with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jongwhan, director E Oni, actresses Kong Hyo-jin and Uhm Ji-won, and a group of students majoring in film. 

"As a native of Busan, I`ve taken part in the BIFF in both my professional and personal life, from the very start. It`s an honor to attend the festival as the first sitting president to do so in BIFF history," said the president.

"The BIFF is a festival of which Busan natives, and Koreans on the whole, are very proud. We take pride in its international scope. However, in recent years the BIFF has faced some troubling times. I know how hard chairman Kim Dong-ho and current director Kang Soo-youn have worked to revitalize the festival. I came to this year`s festival to lend my support. I hope that the BIFF will make a comeback and reclaim its former glory," he said. 

"It`s up to the citizens and to the people in the movie industry to come together and breathe life into the BIFF. The government, too, will put its best foot forward," he stressed. 

President Moon Jae-in holds a luncheon with Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Do Jongwhan, director E Oni, actresses Kong Hyo-jin and Uhm Ji-won, and a group of film students, on the sidelines of the BIFF on Oct. 15.

President Moon Jae-in is greeted by a crowd of moviegoers at a cinema in Haeundae District in eastern Busan Oct. 15.

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