It was their first public appearance after media reports of their extramarital relationship emerged last June. Neither of them have officially confirmed the reports.

They smiled at each other while ascending to the stage for a news conference to promote "On the Beach at Night Alone" at the 67th edition of the festival.

Hong, clad in a white shirt and a black knit sweater, and Kim in a black dress, sat side-by-side and answered questions from reporters.

"On the Beach at Night Alone" is to have its world premiere at the festival after a red-carpet event for the film later in the day.

It is Hong's 19th feature film and third foray to Berlin after "Night and Day" (2008) and "Nobody's Daughter Haewon" (2013). It is also the only Korean film of the 18 films competing for the Golden Bear award at this year's festival, and the first Korean film nominated for the festival's competition category in four years.

A total of 18 films were chosen to compete for the Golden Bear award at this year's festival running from Feb. 9-19.

"On the Beach" tells the story of an actress pondering her relationship with a married man while drinking together with friends in a seaside town shortly after returning from a trip to Germany. It stars Kim Min-hee, Jung Jae-young, Kwon Hae-hyo, Song Seon-mi and Moon Seong-geun.

During the news conference, Kim said she loved working with Hong.

"Days have always been refreshing because I was able to film together; I was curious what would happen with the story. I made efforts to focus and portray the script written by him," she said.

(Yonhap)