Actress Kim Min-hee has given birth to a child with director Hong Sang-soo.
According to sources in the film industry, Kim Min-hee recently welcomed a baby boy. She is currently staying at a postpartum care center in Hanam, Gyeonggi Province.
News of Kim Min-hee's pregnancy surfaced in January. In February, she was spotted at Incheon International Airport, visibly pregnant, as she departed for the Berlin International Film Festival with Hong Sang-soo.
The couple met in 2015 while working on the film "Right Now, Wrong Then" and developed a romantic relationship. In March 2017, during a press conference for "On the Beach at Night Alone," they publicly acknowledged their affair, stating they were in love.
Director Hong Sang-soo is still legally married. He wed a woman, referred to as Ms. A, whom he met during his studies in the United States in 1985, and they have a daughter together.
In 2016, Hong filed for divorce mediation, but Ms. A refused to accept the related documents, leading to the case's dismissal. In 2019, he lost the divorce lawsuit and did not appeal the decision.
The birth registration of Kim Min-hee's son is drawing attention. Since Hong Sang-soo is not legally divorced and Kim Min-hee is unmarried, the situation is complex. However, since the abolition of the family registry system in 2008, replaced by the family relations registration system, Kim Min-hee can register the birth of her child as a single mother. It remains unclear whether she will register the child solely under her name or as an illegitimate child under Hong Sang-soo's name. To register the child as Hong's, a paternity acknowledgment process is required.
If Hong Sang-soo undergoes the paternity acknowledgment process, the child's family relations certificate will list Kim Min-hee as the mother and Hong Sang-soo as the father. While Hong's legal wife will still be listed as his spouse in his family relations registration, the child will be recorded as his offspring.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)