Actor Park So-dam cried hot tears as she recalled her deep bond with her longtime respected senior, the late Lee Soon-jae, after overcoming a battle with cancer.
Park So-dam appeared as a special guest on KBS 2TV's Celeb Soldier's Secret, which aired at 8:30 p.m. on the 12th, and took time to highlight the life of the late Lee Soon-jae. Park So-dam previously worked with Lee Soon-jae in the 2020 play Henri and the Grandfather and I.
Park So-dam said, "I get a little choked up when I think of teacher. My goal is not to cry," but as soon as Lee Soon-jae's voice was heard in the footage, she reddened the eyes she had been holding back.
He said, "Hearing the teacher's voice is already dangerous. I almost want to ask for help...," expressing longing for the great senior who guided him in life.
Park So-dam moved viewers by conveying the lessons Lee Soon-jae left to juniors during his lifetime and his extraordinary obsession with acting.
According to Park So-dam, Lee Soon-jae always said he wanted to "die on stage," and he habitually said that the happiest moments were spending time with juniors and going home together. In addition, during filming of his final drama, Gaesori, the late actor experienced vision decline from cataract surgery and hearing problems, yet he showed a fighting spirit by memorizing lines read loudly by his manager and acting.
In particular, the broadcast revealed the last image of Lee Soon-jae lying in bed showing delirium symptoms while reciting theater lines day and night, which caused great shock and emotion.
Looking back on Lee Soon-jae's final path with fellow actors including Park Hae-mi, Park So-dam renewed her determination for a new life through the life of the great senior. The late Lee Soon-jae capped his life by winning his first KBS Acting Award on Jan. 2025 and entered eternal rest in November of the same year amid farewells from many juniors.
Park So-dam showed that she engraved Lee Soon-jae's sense of mission as an actor in her heart, saying, (After watching the footage) "I should live harder."
Earlier, Park So-dam was diagnosed with papillary thyroid cancer in 2021 and underwent surgery, and fortunately recovered healthily and resumed activities.
In a 2023 interview, Park So-dam recalled the common view that a five-year period is considered for a cancer patient to be deemed cured, saying, "They say five years is the period when you look at the probability of recurrence while undergoing chemotherapy. Fortunately I did not have chemotherapy, but there were 10 lumps in my throat. It had spread to the lymph nodes. The professor said if I promoted Special Delivery I could lose the nerve for my voice, so he said the surgery had to be done. He said after lymph node metastasis the next is the lungs. If it was delayed I would have had to have chemotherapy," recalling the time.
She said it took six months after surgery to regain her voice, adding, "It's not exactly how many years until complete recovery, but now my voice is back and I'm managing my condition while getting enough rest. Still, I have to take medication for more than five years and find my own pattern. I'm cautious to say with my own mouth whether I'm 'cured' or not. I try not to get stressed, and I have to prepare for times when my condition drops sharply because of hormones. I have to watch myself more than before," she said.
[Photo] OSEN DB, broadcast capture
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