The late Kang Soo-yeon, the "eternal world star" who left a great mark on the Korean film industry, has been gone from our midst for four years already.
May 7, 2026, is the fourth anniversary of the late Kang Soo-yeon's death. She was found in cardiac arrest at her home in Apgujeong-dong, Gangnam District, Seoul, on May 5, 2022, was given cardiopulmonary resuscitation and transported to a nearby hospital, and, suffering a brain hemorrhage with no return of consciousness and in a condition that made surgery difficult, she died three days later on May 7, 2022. She was 55.
Her death came as a great shock, especially since she was about to return after about 10 years with director Yeon Sang-ho's new film Jeong-yi. Lee Byung-hun, Cha Taehyun, Yoo Hai Jin, Sul Kyung-gu, Yang Dong-geun, Moon Sung-geun, Kim Ah-joong, Jung Yu-mi, Moon Hee, Shim Kwon-ho, Kim Dong-ho, director Bong Joon-ho, director Yeon Sang-ho and others visited the funeral hall to mourn her, and director Im Kwon-taek said, "I thought since I'm old I would die soon and Kang Soo-yeon would come and read the eulogy or whatever. But it turned out the other way around. It seems Kang Soo-yeon and I have been switched. Kang Soo-yeon should have lived longer," expressing his sorrow.
Kang Soo-yeon, who began her career in 1969 as a child actor under exclusive contract with Tongyang Broadcasting, rose to become the era's top star in the early 1980s through the high‑teen drama "High School Student Diary," and after transforming into an adult actor she rewrote the history of Korean cinema.
The late Kang Soo-yeon was always preceded by the word "first." In 1987, she won the Volpi Cup for best actress at the 44th Venice International Film Festival for Im Kwon-taek's film "Silk Flower," becoming the first Korean actor to break the barrier of the world's three major film festivals, and in 1989 she won the best actress award at the 16th Moscow International Film Festival for the film "Aje Aje Bara Aje." Having claimed the "first" title, the late Kang Soo-yeon was thus imprinted as a "world star."
Her many trophies attest to the late Kang Soo-yeon's achievements, including the female popularity award and best actress at the 26th Daejong Film Awards, best actress at the 27th Daejong Film Awards, best actress at the 28th Daejong Film Awards, best actress in film at the 36th Baeksang Arts Awards, and the grand prize at the 2001 SBS Drama Awards.
In particular, the late Kang Soo-yeon served as an executive committee member of BIFF from 1998 and was elected co-executive chair in 2015, taking the lead in the development of Korean cinema. As the late Kang Soo-yeon left a great legacy to the advancement of Korean film, many people still keep her in their hearts and remember her, arranging memorial exhibitions and other events so they will not forget her.
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