Former Minister Yu In-chon pays tribute to late Choi Bool-am: “I always called him Father” ... recalls his advice, “Happiness isn’t far away”

[Financial News] Former Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Yu In-chon visited the wake of the late actor Choi Bool-am at the funeral hall of Asan Medical Center in Songpa District, Seoul, on the morning of the 30th to pay his final respects.
After paying his respects, former Minister Yu, who played father and son with the deceased in MBC’s drama “Country Diaries,” spoke to reporters about his special affection for him. “I always called him Father, Father,” he said, reflecting on their long-standing relationship. He added, “Because he played a father for 22 years in ‘Country Diaries,’ he is family to me personally. I always called him ‘Father’ in everyday life, too.”
Although he knew the deceased had been ill, the separation was all the more painful because he had hoped for his recovery. “I had been waiting for his health to improve, and it’s heartbreaking to think that he has passed away like this and I won’t be able to see him anymore,” Yu said. He added, “It’s heartbreaking to know that someone who could have such a profoundly positive influence on people is no longer with us,” once again expressing his grief.
He also recalled advice he had heard from the deceased around the time of his debut. Yu said, “He told me, ‘Happiness isn’t far away. Open the window behind you. That thing called happiness will be there.’” He remembered the deceased as someone who had guided him to find happiness in everyday life. 
Meanwhile, the deceased died at around 10:30 p.m. on the 29th at a hospital in Gangseo District, Seoul, where he had been receiving inpatient treatment. He was 87. After having difficulty getting around following surgery for a herniated disc in March last year, he stepped down from “Korean Cuisine and Dining,” a KBS 1TV current affairs and culture program he had led for 14 years since 2011. He reportedly focused on rehabilitation afterward, but his health deteriorated sharply recently.
The deceased made his debut in 1959 in the play “Hamlet.” He entered television in 1967. Selected as an actor in the sixth special recruitment class at Seoul Central Broadcasting Station (now KBS), he played the elderly Kim Jong-seo in the drama “Suyang Daegun.” He was in his 20s at the time.
He went on to create characters that would go down in Korean drama history, including Chief Park Young-han in MBC’s “Chief Detective” and Chairman Kim of Yangchon-ri in “Country Diaries.” For 67 years, the deceased moved between television dramas, films and theater, sharing in the lives of the public as a “national actor” and a “national father.”
With his distinctive warmth, he built wide-ranging relationships not only with people in broadcasting but also with figures in politics and culture. He was particularly close to the late Chung Ju-yung, honorary chairman of Hyundai Group. At Chung’s urging, he briefly entered politics and served as a member of the National Assembly for the United People’s Party, which Chung founded. Their connection also carried over into his acting work. In “Yamang-ui 25si” (1983), he played the young Chung Ju-yung, and in “Yeongung Sidae” he played Cheon Tae-san, a character modeled on the honorary chairman in his youth.
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