'A lifetime of performance and living brought warm comfort'

'Choi Bool-am was a warm elder to the very end'

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo. [Yonhap]
People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo. [Yonhap]

People Power Party lawmaker Ahn Cheol-soo expressed condolences Friday over the death of actor Choi Bool-am.

Ahn wrote on Facebook: "I offer my deepest condolences on the passing of beloved national actor Choi."

"From the righteous Detective Park in 'Susa Banjang' (a long-running TV crime drama) to the steadfast father who watched over Yangchon-ri for 22 years in 'Jeonwon Ilgi' (a rural family drama), and the warm voice of 'Hangukin-ui Bapsang' (a food and culture program) — Choi lived alongside the Korean people for more than 60 years," Ahn wrote. "I will long remember the warm comfort conveyed through a lifetime of performance and living."

Tributes also came from beyond the ruling party. Independent lawmaker Han Dong-hoon wrote on Facebook that day: "Detective Park of 'Susa Banjang,' Chairman Kim of 'Jeonwon Ilgi' — Choi was a father to all Koreans."

Han recalled a personal memory from a stint as justice minister. "When I was minister, Choi and I opened a small cafe inside a detention center. In truth, Choi did everything — I was just one admiring fan watching from the sidelines," Han wrote. "It was a place where people who had paid their debt to society and were about to return to the world learned to brew coffee."

"What Choi offered that day was not pity or cynicism, but the belief that one could try again," Han continued. "From Choi, I learned that politics must work toward a society where those who have fallen can rise again — a community where a single failure is not the end."

"On screen and off, Choi was a warm elder to the very end," Han wrote. "I will not forget the hand extended to me."


raining@heraldcorp.com