ACCLAIMED veteran South Korean actress Kang Soo-yeon died on Saturday at 55 after reportedly suffering from a cardiac arrest and being found unconscious from a cerebral haemorrhage a few days before.
Nicknamed Korea’s first world star, Kang was a beloved child star from the 70s and gained national recognition with the coming-of-age drama Diary of High School Student, which ran on KBS from 1983 to 1986.
She got her career breakthrough when she became the first Korean actor to win best actress at the 1987 Venice Film Festival for her role in Im Kwon-taek’s The Surrogate Womb at age 21 and again in Moscow for another film by Im titled Come, Come, Come Upward.
Most of Kang’s popular roles happened before the industrialisation of the Korean film industry and she represented the changing ideas of women in Korean society in feminist films like Go Alone Like Musso’s Horn and Girl’s Night Out in the 90s.
On top of that, Ladies of the Palace, an SBS historical drama series that Kang starred in 2001 was also one of the highest-rated TV series of that year.
Although a long break from Korean screens, Kang recently shot scenes for Jung-E, a Netflix original film by Train to Busan director Yeon Sang-ho.
“It can’t have been easy for her, becoming a star at such a young age and living in the public’s eye for so long, but I admire her for her bravery and spirit,” wrote Darcy Paquet, Korean film chronicler and sub-titler.
