It has been 7 years since veteran singer Choi Hee-jun passed away due to illness.
Choi Hee-jun passed away on Aug. 24, 2018, at the age of 82.
Debuting in the music industry in 1960 with "Our Lover is an Old Maid," Choi Hee-jun attracted great attention for his rare educational background from Seoul National University, where he studied public administration.
Choi Hee-jun, who was active mainly around the U.S. 8th Army, dominated the music scene in the early 1960s alongside Patty Kim, Hyun Mi, Yoon Bok-hee, and Shin Joong-hyun, showcasing standard pop and swing music based on jazz. Notably, his signature song "Boarding House Student" was reinterpreted by fellow singer Lee Seung-hwan in 1991, bringing it back into the spotlight.
He married Kim Hyun-sook in 1963 but lost his wife, who was battling breast cancer, in 1989. Choi Hee-jun, who sold the restaurant he operated for 10 years to care for his wife, also sang in nightclubs. Shortly thereafter, he fell into deep sorrow after the loss of his mother. During this time, he remarried in 1991 to Kim Vivian, whom he met through acquaintances.
Meanwhile, Choi Hee-jun entered politics in 1995 as a founding member of the New Politics Alliance for Democracy, and was elected as a member of the 15th National Assembly from the Anyang Dong-Gu district in Gyeonggi Province in 1996, becoming the first singer-turned-member of the National Assembly.
Afterward, he served as a permanent auditor at the Korea Culture and Arts Foundation from 2001 to 2004, and in 2003, he was the chairman of the Korea Popular Music Research Institute. In 2007, he was honored with a cultural medal recommendation award at the Republic of Korea Arts Awards, acknowledging his contributions.
[Photo] OSEN DB
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