Choi Bool-am posthumously awarded Korea's top cultural honor

The government posthumously awarded the late actor Choi Bool-am the Geum-gwan Order of Cultural Merit, the nation's highest cultural decoration, on Friday.

Choi died Thursday night at the age of 87. Making a debut in the 1959 stage production of Hamlet, Choi spent 67 years moving between theater, television dramas, film and cultural programming. For 18 years, Choi played Detective Chief Park Yeong-han in "Susa Banjang" (Chief of Detectives), the pioneering Korean detective drama series, and for 22 years portrayed village chairman Kim of Yangchon-ri in "Jeonwon Ilgi" (Country Diary), the longest-running drama series in Korean broadcasting history. Through those roles, Choi helped define K-drama's formative era. Beloved as the "nation's actor" for embodying an everyman, warmly human image of the Korean father, Choi also hosted "Hangukinui Bapsang" (Koreans' Table), a culinary culture program, for 14 years beginning in 2011.

Off screen, Choi used culture and the arts to extend a positive influence across society. From 1985, Choi served as national patron chairman of ChildFund Korea, championing support for children at home and abroad. As chairman of Zero Camp, Choi also helped out-of-school youth build independence and integrate into society through arts education.

Choi had previously received the Eun-gwan Order of Cultural Merit in 2014 in recognition of contributions to the development of popular culture and the arts.

Culture Minister Choi Hwi-yeong presented the decoration to the bereaved family on behalf of the government on Friday and paid tribute to the late actor.

According to broadcasting industry sources, Choi died around 10 p.m. Thursday at a hospital in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, while receiving inpatient treatment.

Choi had stepped down from "Hangukinui Bapsang" after undergoing back disc surgery in March last year left mobility impaired. Despite sustained rehabilitation efforts, Choi's health deteriorated sharply in the period that followed, sources said.