Kim, a wartime refugee from North Pyongan Province, died Sept. 24

Cartoonist Kim Woo-young. [Yonhap·Korea Manhwa Contents Agency]
Cartoonist Kim Woo-young. [Yonhap·Korea Manhwa Contents Agency]

Veteran cartoonist Kim Woo-young, born Kim Hye-kyung, who was best known for the long-running comic strip "Ddungddanji," died Sept. 24, it was reported Thursday. He was 87.

According to the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency, Kim was born in 1939 in Seoncheon, North Pyongan Province, and fled to Busan as a child shortly after Korea's liberation. He graduated from Donggwang Middle School and Haedong High School.

His given name was Kim Hye-kyung, but he adopted the pen name Kim Woo-young — drawing one character each from the names of illustrator U Gyeong-hui, whom he admired, and the Goryeo general Choe Yeong. He later legally changed his name to match the pen name.

Kim entered the comics world in 1956, while in his third year of middle school, with the publication of "Mullebanga," a water mill story. He went on to publish "Seoreumgil Gumanri" (1957), "Baekje's Star" (1958) and "Cry, Motherland" (1959).

In 1967, he joined Tongyang Broadcasting Company as part of its seventh animation department cohort and the following year contributed to the production of the TV animated series "The Golden Bat" and "Humanoid Monster Bem."

His signature work was "Ddungddanji," a four-panel comic strip that ran in Sonyeon Chosun Ilbo — now known as Eorini Chosun Ilbo — for nearly 30 years, from March 1, 1990, to April 1, 2019, totaling 8,556 installments. The strip followed the cheerful everyday life of a mischievous boy named Ddungddanji, recognizable by three stray hairs sticking out from his head.

Kim subsequently published a string of "Ddungddanji" spin-off volumes, including "Ddungddanji Comic Diary" (1993), "Ddungddanji Myeongsimbogam" (1996), "Ddungddanji's Dokdo Expedition" (1996) and "Ddungddanji's Walk Through Famous Sayings" (1997). His final standalone volume, "Manhwa Soyori Mundap," was published in 2013.

Kim received the fourth Gobau Comics Award in 2004 and the 25th Saekdong Nunssol Award in 2009.


jshan@heraldcorp.com