-Late Ahn Sung-ki: funeral mass and farewell ceremony held at Myeongdong Cathedral
-The last path of the 'national actor' who lived his life through acting
With Ahn Sung-ki at rest, colleagues from the film industry and citizens kept coming to and from inside and outside Myeongdong Cathedral from early morning, seeing off the final moments of an actor who represented an era.
The funeral mass and film industry farewell for the late Ahn Sung-ki were held on the morning of the 9th at Myeongdong Cathedral in Jung-gu, Seoul.
Ahn Sung-ki died at age 74 on the morning of the 5th while receiving treatment in the intensive care unit at Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, with family by his side. It had been six days since he collapsed while eating at home on the 30th of last month after food went down his windpipe and was transported to the hospital in an unconscious state and treated.
At the farewell ceremony, Jung Woosung and Lee Jung-jae, heads of the late man's final agency, Artist Company, carried his portrait and medal and led the farewell. The pallbearers were Sul Kyung-gu, Park Cheol-min, Yoo Ji-tae, Park Hae-il, Cho Woo-jin and Ju Jihoon, who expressed deep respect and condolences. Artist Company announced these arrangements for the farewell ceremony in an official statement the day before.
The wake was set up in Room 31 of the Seoul St. Mary's Hospital funeral hall, and the burial site is Byeolgeurida in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi. To honor the late man's achievements, beloved as a 'national actor' during his lifetime, the funeral was conducted as a film industry funeral organized by the Shin Young-kyun Arts and Culture Foundation and The Korea Film Actors Association. Honorary chairman Shin Young-kyun, director Bae Chang-ho, The Korea Film Actors Association chairman Lee Gab-seong, Shin Yeon-sik acting head of the Shin Young-kyun Arts and Culture Foundation, and Korea Film Association chairman Yang Yun-ho served as co-funeral chairmen.
Listed as chief mourners were his wife Oh So-young and their two sons. In particular, Jung Woosung and Lee Jung-jae, as heads of the agency, greeted mourners and stood by the late man until the end. A memorial space for citizens was also set up at the Seoul Cinema Center, and people continued to come to pay their respects to the 'national actor's' final path.
There was a special connection between the late man and the cathedral that led to the funeral mass and farewell ceremony being held at Myeongdong Cathedral. Ahn Sung-ki married his wife Oh So-young at Myeongdong Cathedral in 1985, and in 2018 his eldest son Ahn Da-bin also held his wedding at the same place. That the cathedral where he shared life's most important moments together was the place for his final farewell made many people's hearts even heavier.
At the farewell ceremony, director Bae Chang-ho and actor Jung Woosung, co-funeral committee members, delivered eulogies, honoring the late man's life of lifelong acting, sharing, faith and responsibility. Amid prayers and silence that filled the cathedral, the journey of the 'national actor' who graced a page of Korean film history thus came to a close.
[Photo] Provided by the joint press corps.
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