Kang Heon, chairman of the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service. [Yonhap]
Kang Heon, chairman of the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service. [Yonhap]

Kang Heon, chairman of the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service and a leading figure in Korean popular music criticism in the 1990s, died Tuesday. He was 64.

According to sources in the cultural community, Kang died Tuesday afternoon. The cause of death has not been disclosed.

Born in Busan in 1962, Kang aspired to become a novelist and enrolled in the Korean language and literature department at Seoul National University, later pursuing graduate studies in music theory at the same institution.

After graduating, he entered the film world, joining the independent film collective Jangsan Gotmae, where he worked on productions including "O! Land of Dreams," "Night Before the Strike" and "Opening the Closed School Gate." He also wrote screenplays for the commercial films "When Adam Opens His Eyes" and "Jungle Story," as well as the script for the TV drama series "The Third Theater."

Kang rose to wider prominence in popular culture after writing a review of singer Kim Hyun-sik at a colleague's request, a turning point that set him on the path of pop music criticism.

Im Jin-mo, a pop music critic who knew Kang for many years, said Kang began writing music criticism in the early 1990s and caused a sensation in the field with his elegant prose. "He and I worked together as a duo throughout the 1990s," Im said. "There was even a saying at the time — 'Kang Heon for Korean pop, Im Jin-mo for Western pop' — reflecting how actively we both contributed to various media."

Kang also co-founded several cultural quarterly journals with colleagues, including "Yegam," "Sangsang" and "Review," and taught the history of popular music for 20 years at Hongik University, Sungkonghoe University, Dankook University and Sungkyunkwan University.

He was equally active in producing performances and music theater. He organized concerts including "Freedom" and a festival marking the 30th anniversary of Korean folk music, and created music theater productions such as "The Song That Never Ends," "Cheonbyeon Salon," "Cheonbyeon Cabaret" and "The Princess Cannot Sleep."

At 42, Kang suffered a life-threatening aortic dissection and spent 23 days in a coma. After recovering, he took up the study of myeongrihak, the traditional East Asian practice of reading fate through the principles of the natural order. In 2015 he published "Myeongri: Reading Destiny" based on that study.

Kang previously served as president of the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation and as the fifth chairman of the Korea Regional Cultural Foundation Association. In December last year, he was appointed chairman of the Korea Arts and Culture Education Service.


min3654@heraldcorp.com