Korean actress Song Hye-kyo revealed her close relationship with Chinese actress Zhang Ziyi during the Cannes Film Festival in France on Sunday.

Asked if any of the Chinese actors have pet names for her, Song responded that “Zhang Ziyi calls me meimei (妹妹; younger sister).”

“I call her ‘eonni’ in Korean (jiejie, 姐姐; older sister),” the Korean actress was quoted as saying. “Other actors mostly just call me my Korean name pronounced in Chinese,” Song added.

Touching on her relations with Zhang, Song also said, “I have known Zhang Ziyi for a long time because she was friends with my acquaintances.”

Song came to Cannes to promote the movie “The Crossing,” directed by Hollywood director John Woo, which tells a love story based on a historical incident that happened in China 50 years ago.

By Kim Min-jin, Intern reporter (minjin103@heraldcorp.com)