'We were happy in your great shade': Tributes pour in for actor Choi Bool-am

"I was truly happy and grateful to be able to laugh and cry together under your great shade."

Choi Bool-am (born Choi Young-han), beloved as "the nation's father," died Thursday night at 87. Actor Choi Soo-jong, who took over from Choi Bool-am as host of KBS 1TV's "Koreans' Table," posted a tribute on SNS Friday, remembering the late actor not merely as a performer but as a teacher who cherished the sweat and everyday lives of ordinary people more deeply than anyone. The post ended with three repetitions of "I love you."

Choi Bool-am hosted "Koreans' Table" for 14 years, from 2011 through last year, traveling across the country to share the stories embedded in local food in a warm, unhurried voice. Choi stepped down after back surgery in March last year left limited mobility, and Choi Soo-jong took over the role. At the time, the production team said Choi Bool-am had expressed a wish to "pass on the table stories I have told for so long to a dependable junior."

As news of the death spread Friday, tributes flowed from politics and popular culture alike. President Lee Jae Myung posted on X (formerly Twitter) under the title "We pray for the repose of Choi Bool-am, our generation's father." Lee said, "Just as you taught us that 'to become a good actor, one must first become a good person,' you showed us a warmth toward people and the world that went beyond performance," and went on to say, "I will carry deeply the spirit with which you looked after society's shadows and turned toward the pain of those in need."

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon recalled the late actor's ties to the city in a Facebook post. Oh remembered Choi Bool-am, who served as a Seoul promotional ambassador from 1998, as the city's "longest-serving ambassador," writing, "It is heartbreaking to think that I must now meet the nation's father — who always felt like he would be by our side — only in memory."

Condolences also came from across the political aisle. Democratic Party of Korea spokesperson Jeon Su-mi wrote on SNS that "a corner of my heart feels hollow and cold," while People Power Party supreme council member Yang Hyang-ja said, "I will hold that smile and that voice in my memory for a long time."

Pop-opera tenor Im Hyung-joo, president of the Yongsan Culture Foundation, who was close to Choi Bool-am like family, posted a tribute on SNS opening with "My respected and beloved Uncle Choi Bool-am." Im had long called Choi Bool-am's wife, actor Kim Min-ja, "Aunt," and the couple had attended Im's solo recitals together. "I did not know that the greeting we exchanged at the hospital a few months ago would be our final farewell," Im wrote, adding, "Thank you so much for being a warm father to so many people across this country."

Composer Yoon Il-sang posted a black-and-white photograph of Choi Bool-am on Instagram and wrote, "Because you were always with us from our childhood, it felt as though you would be with us forever." Yoon added, "You were not someone who merely performed an era — you were someone who lived through an era alongside us and left warmth in all of our hearts."

Online tributes poured in from people who said they would miss the late actor's voice. Many wrote that the narration they had heard over the years had been a great comfort, and one user noted, "I had been looking forward to hearing Choi Bool-am's voice on 'Koreans' Table' again — it is a real loss." Tributes traced the arc of Choi Bool-am's career. Choi played Detective Park Young-han in MBC's "Detective" (1971–1984, 1985–1989), considered the originator of the Korean crime procedural, and portrayed Chairman Kim of Yangchon-ri in MBC's "Country Diary" (1980–2002), the longest-running drama series in South Korean television history. In "Country Diary," Choi shared the screen with actor Kim Hye-ja as a married couple for 22 years. Posts reading "Chairman Kim of Yangchon-ri, rest in peace" and "Eternal Detective, sleep well" spread widely online.

Many also lamented that an era had come to an end. The deaths of Lee Soon-jae last year and Ahn Sung-ki earlier this year, followed now by Choi Bool-am, mean that three veterans each known as a "national actor" have passed away in quick succession. "First Teacher Lee Soon-jae, then Teacher Ahn Sung-ki, and now Teacher Choi Bool-am — all the great ones are leaving us," one post read.

Born in Incheon in 1939 (recorded as 1940 in the family register), Choi Bool-am made his debut in 1959 in a production of Hamlet and performed on stage and screen for 67 years. The funeral home at Asan Medical Center in Songpa-gu, Seoul, has been set up as the memorial hall. The funeral will be held under the auspices of ChildFund Korea, an organization Choi Bool-am became connected with through the filming of "Country Diary" in 1981 and with which he served for many years as national patron chairman. Hwang Young-ki, chairman of ChildFund Korea, will serve as head of the funeral committee, with former prime ministers Lee Soo-sung and Lee Nak-yon among the committee members. Choi Bool-am is survived by wife Kim Min-ja and children Dong-nyeok and Dong-bi.