BUSAN, Oct. 5 (Yonhap) -- The Busan Film Festival had a showcase of six rising young stars representing South Korea, Japan and Taiwan on Monday.

The panel included Kim Woo-bin and Kim Go-eun from South Korea, Taiwan-based stars Mark Chao and Sandrine Pinna, and Takeru Satoh and Masami Nagasawa of Japan.

The "casting board" event selects one male and female film star from each of the three major languages spoken in Northeast Asia, from among actors who are currently active in the industry or are expected to be in the future.

It was part of the "Asian Casting Market," a subsidiary program of the festival's Asian Film Market, which introduces the region's most promising young stars to the world market.

"It's a great honor to be invited here. I'll be an actress with more responsibility in the future," Kim Go-eun, star of "Eungyo" and "Coin Locker Girl," said during the event at BEXCO exhibition center in the southern port city of Busan.

The 24-year-old is also fluent in Chinese after living in Beijing for about 10 years when she was young.
"I'd like to work with Chinese directors for that reason," she said when asked if she has any foreign director with whom she wants to work.

"I saw the Chinese film 'Together' about 20 times when I was an elementary schooler and cried every time," she said, citing the 2002 film by master director Chen Kaige as the most impressive Chinese film in her life. "It aroused my interest in movies for the first time."

Kim Woo-bin, who is a rising hallyu star, and others said they want to work with as many foreign directors as possible.

Hallyu refers to the Asian-wide popularity of Korean music, TV dramas and films.

Kim most recently was featured in "Twenty," a comedy about three close friends who all turn 20 years old, and "The Con Artists," a caper film. He also appeared in the popular television series "The Heirs."

Pinna, the Taiwanese-French star of arthouse film "Touch of the Light," in particular showed a strong desire to advance into overseas markets, including Korea.

"If I receive any request from abroad, I'll show my ability regardless of what it is," she said.

Chao is a Taiwanese-Canadian actor who can fluently speak Chinese and English, Satoh is a Japanese actor who rose to fame for his leading role in the live-action "Rurouni Kenshin" film and its sequels.

Nagasawa is best known for "Crying Out Love In The Center of The World," a Japanese romance made in 2004. Most recently, she was featured in "Our Little Sister" by award-winning director Hirokazu Kore-eda.

The showcase was directly followed by the festival's first-ever "curtain call" event that introduced veteran Asian actors boasting a strong box-office presence at home and overseas fame.

South Korean actor Song Kang-ho was chosen to be this year's "curtain call" star. Song has received many awards for his roles in director Bong Joon-ho's debut English film "Snowpiercer," local box office hit"The Attorney," and "Thirst," an arthouse film by director Park Chan-wook. He also was the co-host of the opening ceremony of this year's festival.

The 20th edition of the Busan International Film Festival is scheduled to run on Oct. 1-10. The Asian Film Market runs for only four days till Tuesday.

sshim@yna.co.kr
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