Cha In-pyo shares memory of late Choi Bool-am from 'You and I'

Actor Cha In-pyo has shared a personal memory of the late Choi Bool-am, with whom Cha played a father-and-son pair in the MBC drama series "You and I."

Cha wrote on Instagram on Friday that Choi had approached him after the show became a hit in 1998. "Teacher Choi Bool-am and I met as father and son in the MBC weekend drama series 'You and I' in 1998," Cha wrote. "When the drama became a hit, it seems he was invited to all sorts of events at year's end."

Cha recalled that Choi once asked to meet and then made an unusual request. "One day, Teacher asked to see me and asked if I would accompany him to some event he had to attend," Cha wrote. "When I hesitated without answering, he said: 'In-pyo, if you come with me this time, I'll go with you next time.'"

"That was how Teacher was," Cha wrote. "Even the most junior colleague, he treated as an equal — a person of the same dignity. On the day Teacher Choi left for heaven, that memory suddenly came to mind."

Cha added: "Through his role as a father on screen, so many people found comfort and courage. Thank you for playing the father for so long. Please rest in peace now, in a place free of pain."

Choi Bool-am, who had long embodied the image of a Korean father figure, died Thursday night at 87.

Mourners from the arts, culture and political worlds began filing into the funeral home from the first day of the memorial.

Cha also visited the funeral home to pay respects. "Teacher Choi, as I knew him on set, was a remarkable person who treated even the most junior colleagues as equals — as full human beings," Cha said. "I pray he rests in peace in heaven, free from all suffering and pain."

The funeral procession will depart Monday at 7:40 a.m., followed by a requiem Mass celebrated by Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung at Yeouido Cathedral in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul at 9 a.m. The procession will then move to ChildFund Korea at 10:40 a.m. Choi will be laid to rest at Donghwa Gyeongmo Park.