Kim Jeong-ok, a first-generation director in Korea and director of the Face Museum, died at 94 on the morning of the 17th.
The deceased served as head of the Minjung Theater troupe and artistic director of the Jayu Theater troupe, directing about 200 works including "What Shall I Become," "A Feast of Tramps," and "The Bald Soprano." Through the troupe Jayu, Kim was credited with adding Korean elements to theater by introducing traditional yeonhui and gut forms. Kim also helped promote Korean theater worldwide with touring performances in 32 cities across seven countries, including Japan, France, and Germany. Kim received the Order of Cultural Merit (Geumgwan), the Arts Academy Award, and the Ilmin Culture and Arts Award, among others.
Born in Gwangju and a graduate of Gwangju Seo Middle School, Kim entered the Korean literature department at Chung-Ang University, then transferred to and graduated from the French literature department at Seoul National University. Kim studied French literature and film studies at the Sorbonne in France. During studies abroad, under the influence of Yu Chi-jin (1905–1974), Kim turned to theater. After returning home in 1959, Kim helped establish the nation's first four-year theater and film department at the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Chung-Ang University in 1959, and served there as a full-time lecturer.
While at Chung-Ang University, Kim coached the Ewha Womans University theater club and also worked as a reporter at the Min-guk Ilbo. The screenplay "Trap of Love" was made into a film in 1960, and that same year Kim joined Kim Jong-won and Lee Young-il in forming the Film Critics Association.
In 1961, Kim began directing theater with "Lysistrata" alongside students at Ewha Womans University. After serving as assistant director for the Drama Center's opening production "Hamlet" in 1962, Kim began working in earnest as a director with the founding of the Minjung Theater in 1963. The inaugural production was "Egg," followed by the absurdist play "The Bald Soprano." In 1977, Eugène Ionesco (1909–1994), author of "The Bald Soprano," visited Korea, watched the play, and sent praise.
In 1966, together with Lee Byung-bok (1927–2017), Kim founded the Jayu troupe and rose to prominence as a leading director in Korea with works such as "A Feast of Tramps" (1966). In 1969, through "Café Théâtre," which Lee opened on Chungmuro in Seoul, Kim launched the small-theater movement. Through original productions, Kim presented various experimental stages that incorporated and reimagined Korean traditions.
In the play "What Shall I Become" (1978), Kim directed the stage reflecting traditional Korean yeonhui and gut forms. With works such as "Blood Wedding" (1984) and "Even if the wind blows, flowers will bloom" (1984), Kim was credited with making "exotic theater into something Korean." From the 1980s, leading the Jayu troupe, Kim presented performing arts pieces that reinterpreted traditional Korean sentiments in a contemporary way in France, Spain, Japan, Tunisia, and elsewhere.
In 1991, Kim became a member of the National Academy of Arts of the Republic of Korea. In June 1995, Kim became the first Asian to serve as president of the International Theatre Institute (ITI), was reappointed three times, and was later named honorary president. Kim also served as president of the Korea Culture and Arts Foundation (2000) and as president of the National Academy of Arts of the Republic of Korea (2011).
In 2004, Kim opened the Face Museum. In 2002, Kim became the first Korean to receive the Commandeur, France's highest grade of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres. Kim was also recognized on the international stage with honors including the Nikkei Asia Prize (culture category) from Japan.
Kim is survived by spouse Cho Kyung-ja; daughter Kim Seung-mi, a professor at Seoul Institute of the Arts; son Kim Seung-gyun, a director of the Face Museum; and son-in-law Hong Seung-il, former head of JoongAng Ilbo Design. The wake is in Room 14 at the Catholic University of Korea Seoul St. Mary's Hospital funeral hall. The funeral will be at 7:30 a.m. on the 20th.