Kim Soo-yong, legendary director who led golden age of Korean cinema, dies at 94

Director Kim Soo-yong [JOONGANG PHOTO]

Kim Soo-yong, a pioneering director who made more than 100 films throughout his lifetime, died on Sunday at the Seoul National University Hospital. He was 94.

Born in Anseong, Gyeonggi, in 1929, Kim debuted with the 1958 film “A Henpecked Husband,” which he made during his spare time while serving in the military.

“He was the gentleman of Chungmu-ro and an artist with principles,” Chung Ji-yong, a prominent director and screenwriter, said in a phone call with the JoongAng Ilbo, an affiliate of the Korea JoongAng Daily.

Chungmu-ro is an avenue in central Seoul known as the street representative of the Korean film industry.

Chung added, “He would read a lot and tell us younger directors that directors should indirectly experience much through books.”

Throughout his life, Kim directed a total of 109 films, including “Sad Story of Self Supporting Child” (1965), which broke box office records for black-and-white films by attracting more than 285,000 moviegoers in Seoul alone, and “The Sea Village” (1965), “Flame in the Valley” (1967), “Mist” (1967) and “When a Woman Breaks Her Jewel Box” (1971).

Kim was known especially for adapting novels by Korean authors into films, such as adaptations of works by novelists Hyun Jin-geon, Pak Kyongni and Yi Hyo-seok. He led the golden age of Korean cinema along with contemporaries such as Shin Sang-ok, Yu Hyun-mok and Kim Ki-young.

“There were films before I was born, and there will be films after I leave,” Kim is quoted as saying before he died.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]