Kim Hye-soo sheds tears at late Choi Bool-am’s wake; Sunwoo Yong-nyeo and Kang Seok-woo also pay their respects

[Financial News] Fellow and junior actors continue to visit the wake of late actor Choi Bool-am (real name: Choi Young-han). Actor Kim Hye-soo, who looked up to him as a father during his lifetime, stayed for a long time before showing her tears.
Kim Hye-soo visited the late actor’s wake at the funeral hall of Asan Medical Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, on the 30th, talking with and consoling his family. After paying her respects, she went home without giving a separate interview to reporters. She had long considered Choi Bool-am and Kim Min-ja parental figures and maintained a close relationship with them. She grew close to Kim Min-ja after they played mother and daughter in the 1987 KBS drama ‘Song of Yearning.’
In a 10th-anniversary special of KBS 1TV’s ‘Korean Cuisine and Dining,’ which aired in 2021, Kim Hye-soo prepared a meal for the late actor with Kim Min-ja. A congratulatory video featuring messages from fellow entertainers gathered by Kim Hye-soo was also shown on the program.
Kim Hye-soo once said that she kept the text messages she had received from the late actor, saying, “The messages you send are poems every time.” She also attended his Catholic baptism ceremony in 2018.
Actors Sunwoo Yong-nyeo and Kang Seok-woo also visited the wake that day. After paying his respects, Kang told reporters, “I think a true national actor of Korea has passed away.” He also expressed sadness that it seemed first-generation actors were passing away, following the death of Lee Soon-jae.
Kang Seok-woo played the late actor’s son in the MBC drama ‘Yeongung Sidae’ and also appeared with him in the SBS drama ‘Geudae Useoyo,’ which aired in 2009.
Actor Park Eun-soo, who played Ilyong in ‘Country Diaries’ and worked alongside the late actor for many years, also visited the wake that day. Before paying his respects, he told reporters that he had considered the late actor like an older brother, saying, “It’s heartbreaking that we’ve lost such a great actor.”
Choi Bool-am was loved by viewers for many years as Chief Park Young-han in ‘Chief Detective’ and Chairman Kim of Yangchon-ri in ‘Country Diaries.’ From 2011 through last year, he hosted ‘Korean Cuisine and Dining,’ sharing food from across the country and the lives of the people there.
The late actor died on the 29th while receiving inpatient treatment at a hospital in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. He was 87. A five-day funeral organized by the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation will be held.
The funeral procession is scheduled for around 7:40 a.m. on November 2. A funeral Mass will be held at Yeouido Cathedral at around 9 a.m. that day, followed by a farewell at the Green Umbrella headquarters at around 10:40 a.m. He will be laid to rest at Donghwa Gyeongmo Park in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
[email protected] Shin Jin-a, Jang In-seo Reporter