The late Kang Seung-sik. [Yonhap]
The late Kang Seung-sik. [Yonhap]

Singer-songwriter Kang Seung-sik, who composed Jang Eun-sook's hit "Chum-eul Chueoyo" (a popular dance song), died Sunday. He was 72.

Pop music critic Park Seong-seo and others said Kang died in the early hours of Sunday at a hospital in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, while being treated for sepsis.

Kang was born in Seoul in 1954, the fourth of five siblings. Singer Sunwoo Seong, known for the Korean adaptation of the French song "Les Champs-Élysées," was his older sister.

Kang showed talent across sports and the arts during his school years. In middle and high school he played soccer alongside Kim Hwang-ho and Jo Yeong-jeung, and he was also a promising amateur boxer — skilled enough to serve as a sparring partner for world champion Hong Soo-hwan.

His musical career began in earnest in 1973, when he picked up an acoustic guitar on the Myeong-dong downtown circuit, including at the music lounge Shelburg.

He made his debut the following year with "Haru Iteul Sahul" (One Day, Two Days, Three Days) and went on to build a distinctive musical identity with releases including "Don't Forget My Heart" (1979) and "Hwanghon" (Twilight, 1982).

His work as a composer proved even more prominent. He wrote Jang Eun-sook's mega-hits "Chum-eul Chueoyo" (Let's Dance, 1978) and "Your First Love" (1978). In the mid-1980s he founded the agency Mono Planning (later River Production), producing albums including Park Sang-gyu's "Yeokma" (1985) and Kang Yeong-suk's "Bin Gaseumeuro" (1986).

In the mid-1990s he moved to the United States, where he hosted music programs, including singing competitions, on Korean-American television.

While living there, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer and underwent a gastrectomy. Saying he wanted to be buried in his homeland, he returned to Korea in 2003.

Complications from the surgery made eating difficult, and Kang settled in Jeonju and the nearby town of Samrye in search of food his body could tolerate, spending more than two decades battling illness.

Kang served as head of the North Jeolla chapter of the Korea Singers Association and devoted himself to regional music activities, founding the North Jeolla Singers Association and the Yeonghonam Cultural Exchange Association.

Critic Park remembered Kang as "someone who refused to rest on the glamour of the stage, crossing the boundaries between creator and producer to broaden the horizons of Korean popular music."

He is survived by his wife Yang Mi-gyeong, a singer and former music instructor, and four children — three sons and a daughter.

A memorial altar has been set up at VIP Room 402 of Jeonju Geumseong Funeral Hall in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province. The funeral procession is scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday.


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