Seoul — Song Hae, who fled North Korea as a youth during the Korean War, became a beloved TV personality in South Korea, and was recognized by the Guinness World Records. Host of the world’s oldest television music talent show, “He died at his house here on Wednesday. He was 95 years old.
His death was confirmed by Lee Ki-nam, a 2020 documentary producer on Mr. Song’s life, who drew a turbulent path that reflected the modern history of South Korea. The cause is not shown.
Known for his cheeky smile and folk wise cracks, Mr. Son became famous in South Korea when he took over as the organizer of the “National Throat Suicide Contest” in 1988. -Home musical talent, farce costumes, inspirational life stories, comedy episodes.
His talent show, which he announced in a booming voice, was held every Sunday for over 30 years.Mr. Song has traveled to every corner of South Korea, overseas compatriots in places like Japan and China, as well as Paraguay, Los Angeles, and so on. Long island.. He continued as a host until the show was interrupted during a coronavirus pandemic, and he was still officially steering it with his death.
Documentary director Jero Yun said:Song Hae 1927.. “
“It was, in a sense, the driving force of his life, meeting people from all disciplines and exchanging life stories through the program,” Yun said. “People always recognized him, flocked around him and wanted to talk to him,” Yun mentioned the K-POP megagroup, “he may have been BTS.” Added.
Mr. Song was awarded the posthumous presidential medal for his contribution to Korean culture, Cheong Wa Dae announced on Wednesday. He was registered in the Guinness World Records in April.
Song Hae was born on April 27, 1927 in Song Hae. Under Japanese occupation in the current South Hwanghae Province of North Korea. His father was the owner of the inn.
At the age of 23, months after the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, he left home and headed south to avoid being drafted to fight for the north. He eventually boarded a UN tank landing ship without knowing where he was heading. He later stared at the water and said he renamed it Hee, meaning the sea.
He left his mother and sister in North Korea. In his 90’s he shed tears by mentioning them.
He served as a signal for the South Korean army after the ship took him to the Korean city of Busan on the south coast of the peninsula. He said in an interview that he was one of the soldiers who stole the Morse code, which sent a message that there was a ceasefire in July 1953.
After retiring from the army, he paddled tofu in poor post-war South Korea before joining a traveling musical troupe. He sang and played on variety shows and eventually became a radio host, fixing traffic call-in shows for taxi and bus drivers. It included an occasional segment where the driver dialed in to sing a song.
In 1952, Song married Suk Okue, the sister of a fellow soldier who worked with him in the war. They had three children. Sixty-three years after the marriage, Song and his wife had an unprecedented wedding because they were originally married in the poverty and turmoil of young people. She died in 2018.
He is survived by two daughters, two granddaughters and one grandson. In 1986, his 21-year-old son died in a motorcycle accident, and Mr. Son couldn’t stand working on his radio traffic show. Around the same time, he was tapped to host a national broadcast KBS singing contest.
The show quickly became a national pastime, led by Mr. Song, and became a group that was rarely seen on television, especially among the elderly and people in the local community.
grandmother Break dance When wrapGrandfather crouched Sexy K-POP number.. Countless young children fascinated the host on stage. one time, Beekeeper covered with bees Mr. Song, who was in a panic, played the harmonica while shouting, “There is one in my pants!”
Mr. Song never realized his lifelong dream of revisiting North Korea’s hometown. But thanks to his show, he got closer to his appetite.
In 2003, during the detente between South Korea, the show filmed an episode in Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea. The song was carefully screened by northern censors to include only propaganda, and the atmosphere was very tense, Son said in an interview, even if it was just 50 miles south of his hometown. I never broke the possibility of visiting Chaeryeong. capital.
At some point during the trip, he was intoxicated with North Korea’s concern. He said he wouldn’t recognize his hometown anyway, as everything changed in 50 years and most people have moved.
In Song’s 2015 biography, poet and professor of English literature Oh Min-seok wrote: He can connect with anyone from 3 to 115 years old, from rural women to college professors, shopkeepers to CEOs, without any problems. That’s because we’re always looking for people inside. “
In South Korea, show contestants and enthusiastic fans have become his family. Mr. Son later recalled that women, including the 115-year-old woman who was the oldest contestant in the show, called him an “oppa” or older brother.
“Can anyone else in the world claim to have as many sisters as I do?” He said. “I’m happy because of the people who support me, applaud me, and comfort me.”