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Organizers of the 19th Busan International Film Festival (BIFF) breathed a heavy sigh of relief over how actresses and other female celebrities heeded their call for a bit of modesty in how they dressed at the beginning of this year's event.
"We think the change in styles this year brought a positive effect to our film festival, especially with the values that we wanted to uphold by prioritizing the directors, actors and other people that took part in making these movies," Kim Jung-yoon, the BIFF public relations manager, told The Korea Times.
The BIFF organizers went to the extreme of enforcing a conservative dress code, shutting down the "Blue Carpet," a venue that young, little-known actresses have used in recent years to attract media attention with skimpy outfits.
Kim hinted that the more modest atmosphere may also have something to do with Korea's ongoing soul-searching over the Sewol ferry disaster in April.
"The atmosphere has definitely settled down, and we are getting a lot of good comments about the whole event," she said.
Three years ago, actress Oh In-hye drew attention with a loose-strapped dress that barely covered her breasts. Last year, Kang Han-na did the same with a backless number that exposed far more than her back.
BIFF kicked off Thursday and runs through Oct. 11.
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