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Film industry mourns loss of actor Ahn Sung-ki

Published: 05 Jan. 2026, 19:18

Veteran actor Ahn Sung-ki appears at a film awards ceremony held at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul in 2008. [YONHAP]

Korea's film community on Monday mourned veteran actor Ahn Sung-ki, a towering figure in Korean cinema whose career spanned more than six decades.

Ahn, widely regarded as "the nation's actor" for building one of the most prolific careers in the Korean film industry, died at a Seoul hospital at the age of 74.

Director Bae Chang-ho, who worked with Ahn on 13 of his 18 films, said he was "filled with sorrow" at the actor's passing.

"There was still so much he could have done for the film industry. It breaks my heart that he had to leave us so soon," Bae told Yonhap News Agency by phone. "I'm grateful we were able to create so many good works together, and I will remember the beautiful films he left behind with audiences for a long time," he added.

Bae will serve as co-chair of Ahn's funeral committee, which will be hosted by members of the film industry.

Director Lee Jang-ho, who gave the star his breakout role in "A Fine, Windy Day" (1980), remembered the late actor as "a gentle and kindhearted man." He recalled jokingly telling people that "I am a person who can't live without laws, but Ahn is someone who can live even without them."

Lee also revealed that Ahn occasionally wrote his own screenplays that were never published, describing them as "filled with artistic insight."

Actor Ahn Sung-ki attends the Gangneung International Film Festival at Gangneung Art Center in Gangneung, Gangwon on Oct. 22, 2021. [YONHAP]

Shim Jae-myung, head of the production company Myung Film, who worked with Ahn on Im Kwon-taek's "Revivre" (2015), said she was heartbroken at the loss of "a great star of Korean cinema."

She said she has never met anyone as warm, considerate and dedicated to film as the late actor.

Director Chung Ji-young, who collaborated with Ahn on "North Korean Partisan in South Korea" (1990), "White Badge" (1992) and "Unbowed" (2012), said he was overwhelmed by emotion.

"We now need to reflect on and define what place Ahn holds in the history of Korean cinema," he said.

Actor Park Joong-hoon, who shared the screen with Ahn in several Korean film classics, including "Chil-su and Man-su" (1988), "Nowhere to Hide" (1999) and "Radio Star" (2006), described him in a memoir published last year as "my star, my respected mentor and a friend-like figure."

Park recalled visiting Ahn during his battle with blood cancer, telling him, "My life has been so good because you were in it," and struggling to hold back tears as the veteran actor smiled in silence.

Yonhap