"'National actors' Ahn Sung-ki and Lee Soon-jae have passed away, and their passion for acting is being recalled. Even while battling illness, the two never left in front of the camera.
On the 9th, the SBS special documentary 늘 그 자리에 있던 사람, actor Ahn Sung-ki aired, revealing his last filming site. Director Park Heung-sik recalled, "In a scene with long lines, the first sentence was perfect, but the second sentence did not come easily," and added, "Watching the monitor, he cried his eyes out in fear that 'this work might be the last.'"
Still, Ahn Sung-ki did not stop filming. Director Park said, "He could have given up with just one word, 'I'm having a hard time today,' but the teacher sat in his seat and quietly said, 'I'll do it,' " and added, "He fulfilled his responsibility as an actor to the end." That scene shows 'posture' before acting.
Even after his blood cancer diagnosis became known in September 2022, he appeared at official events. And on the morning of the 5th at 9 a.m., surrounded by family, he passed away. He was 74. He debuted as a child actor at age five and wrote Korea's film history with more than 170 works over 69 years. In life he often said, "I want to be with audiences with entertaining films as long as I have strength."
The film Birth, which he participated in while receiving blood cancer treatment, became his last work based on filming dates. Acting was his life, and the set was a place he had to protect to the end.
His resonance recalled another documentary. Last year, the MBC tribute special actor Lee Soon-jae, I owe you a lot, captured Lee Soon-jae's last moments, when even on his sickbed he first thought of acting. Asked, "When you're lying down is there nothing you want to do?" he answered without hesitation, "There is only work."
The last scene of the documentary showed him on his sickbed holding the '2024 KBS Drama Awards' trophy and saying, "It's heavy." That one line carried the full weight of a 70-year acting life. The late Lee Soon-jae acted tirelessly across theater, drama and film, endured an 18-hour dissection scene during the filming of 'Heo Jun,' and was well known for staying on set even on the freezing cave floor. Jeon Gwang-ryul recalled, "Even though it was so hard, there wasn't a single complaint."
In his 70s he opened a new path with the sitcom High Kick! and during the filming of 'Yi San' he stayed to the end despite more than 28 hours of forced marches. Lee Seo-jin said, "Even without lines, he stayed with the set to the end." He thus became the recipient of the '2025 MBC Drama Awards' lifetime achievement award.
The agency representative who went on stage at the awards said, "At the time of his last work his eyes could not see and his ears could not hear well. Even so, he endured, saying he could not cause harm to the staff and actors," and added, "There are words left unsaid. Teacher, I love you." Lee Soon-jae, whose words and actions always matched, even at the awards recited long theatrical lines before juniors to demonstrate his approach to acting, and the juniors showed their respect with a standing ovation.
An actor who did not put down the script despite not being able to see, who guarded the stage despite not being able to walk, and who shouted "work" even on his sickbed. Lee Soon-jae died on Nov. 25, 2025, at age 91, but the image of the 'real actor' for whom acting was the reason for life until the last moment remained deeply in many people's hearts.
The two actors left the same answer from different places. That even if it's hard, unseen or unheard, acting is a responsibility to be carried through. The late Ahn Sung-ki and the late Lee Soon-jae. Their final scenes will remain for a long time as the quietest and strongest textbook in the history of Korean acting.
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