Tang Wei with her Korean husband at Busan International Film Festival

“Please tell me how my song was really like, Mr. Kim!”

Chinese actress Tang Wei and Korean director Kim Tae-yong displayed their love as a married couple at the Busan International Film Festival in Busan.

“Where Mermaids Go,” Kim’s new film, was screened at Sohyang Theater in Busan on Saturday. The 30-minute short film is based on the imagination that a female diver on Jeju Island turns into a bear. Tang Wei sang the movie’s soundtrack, “Love in Dream,” in Korean. The actress sat in the audiences and watched the film with her husband.

“My mother used to sing ’Love in Dream’ when I was young, and it still remains in my memory. Maybe that’s why I got married to a Chinese woman,” Kim said. “I jokingly said it would be a good idea if Tang Wei sings the soundtrack in Korean, and she accepted it.” He complimented her, saying, “It’s not easy for a foreigner to sing a song in Korean, but she’s good, isn’t she?”

The Chinese actress stepped on to the stage and said, “Thank you for listening to my bad Korean pronunciation. I practiced it so much that my friends who heard me sing the song a lot can sing it better than I do.” She made audiences laugh when she said, “Whenever I was in trouble, he (Mr. Kim) encouraged me by saying I’m ‘good’ but I have known that his “good” means “so so” since his film “Late Autumn.” Then, she called her husband “Mr. Kim” in Korean and asked him again, “How was it really like?”

iamsam@donga.com