Choi Bul-am's Last Role Was a Goodbye to Four Co-Stars He Outlived

Choi Bul-am, the actor Koreans called the "national father," died at around 10 p.m. on the 29th while receiving treatment at a Seoul hospital. He was 87. On the first day of mourning, the Seoul Asan Medical Center funeral hall received a steady line of visitors from the acting world, politics and the public, a turnout that matches the place he held in Korean television for roughly six decades.

Choi (born Choi Young-han) debuted in 1959 with the theatre troupe Experimental Theatre Company in a production of Hamlet. Over a 67-year career he moved across drama, film and stage, but two MBC series defined him. He played Chief Park Young-han in Investigation Chief (1971–1984, 1985–1989), a show often described as the starting point of the Korean crime procedural, and Chairman Kim of Yangchon-ri in Rural Diary (1980–2002), the country's longest-running drama at 22 years.

A state honor and a political presence

Culture Minister Choi Hwee-young visited the funeral hall on the 30th and delivered the Geumgwan Order of Cultural Merit, the highest honor in Korea's arts and culture field, which was conferred posthumously. He said the nation's hearts would feel empty that day and that he had presented the medal on behalf of the people. He also recalled visiting Choi in the hospital in June, when the actor greeted him with a bright smile and talked about sharing a drink after his discharge. "I had been waiting for that day," the minister said, adding that he had offered a drink at the altar before leaving.

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, the National Police Agency and other political and business figures also paid their respects. Funeral wreaths came from veteran singer Cho Yong-pil, actor Kim Hye-ja and BTS member J-Hope, a reminder of how far his reach extended across generations.

Colleagues who called him family

The Rural Diary cast was the most visible group. Kim Hye-ja, who played his wife on the show for 22 years, visited that evening. "I don't think this is the last time," she said. "We will meet again when I die, so please don't call it the last." She wiped away tears as she said she would live on holding every memory of him.

Go Doo-shim, who played the eldest daughter-in-law, said in a text message that he was a person who quietly carried out his public duty and cared for those in need. She credited him with bringing her into the work of the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation. Yu In-chon, a former culture minister who played the second son Yong-sik, said Choi had been his father on screen in his debut drama and for 22 years after, so "on a personal level, he is family." Actor Im Ho, who played the adopted youngest son, said the cast had been discussing a visit to Choi before year's end.

Others echoed the same theme. Na Moon-hee, supported by an acquaintance, said he had been the pride of the industry. Park Geun-hyung, who studied with Choi at Sorabol Arts College and served alongside him at the National Theater Company, said he felt uneasy as colleagues leave one by one. Lee Kye-in said he lived in the same neighborhood for nearly 40 years and drank with Choi more than anyone. Kang Seok-woo mourned the loss of the first generation of giants, while Cha In-pyo, who played his son in You and I, said Choi treated far younger colleagues as equals.

Kim Hye-soo, who began calling Choi her father after playing his wife's daughter in the 1987 drama Samogok, wept openly as she entered the hall.

The last role was a farewell

Choi's final screen appearance was Investigation Chief 1958 (2024), a prequel to the original series in which he returned as Chief Park after 35 years. In one scene he puts the trench coat back on and visits the graves of his late colleagues, laying chrysanthemums at the headstones of Kim Sang-soon, Jo Kyung-hwan, Seo Ho-jung (played by the late Kim Ho-jung) and Nam Sung-hoon. He saluted and said, "Goodbye, take care."

The scene echoed real life. Kim Ho-jung died in 1978, Nam Sung-hoon in 2002, Jo Kyung-hwan in 2012 and Kim Sang-soon in 2015. In the making-of documentary he said that losing the four before him made him wonder whether he was somehow at fault. He described the team as family after 19 years of seeing each other morning and evening, and called the feeling comradeship.

His funeral is being held under the banner of the Green Umbrella Children's Foundation, where he had long served and which the people around him often cited when remembering his charity work.