Choi Bul-am, aged 87, passes away... MBC and KBS air tribute documentaries

MBC and KBS each scheduled special documentaries to commemorate the late actor Choi Bul-am. MBC will air the memorial special encore documentary ″Paha, This is Choi Bul-am″ Parts 1 and 2 on October 30 and November 1. Part 1 will be broadcast on October 30 at 8:40 PM, and Part 2 on November 1 at 9:30 AM. This program is a documentary first aired in May, highlighting Choi Bul-am’s acting career and body of work in a playlist format accompanied by music, shedding light on his life. The documentary features the ″clown spirit″ that Choi Bul-am often emphasized, along with appearances by colleagues and junior actors Park Geun-hyung, Ko Doo-shim, Park Sang-won, Chae Shi-ra, and Jung Kyung-ho, who share their memories of the late actor. At the time of production, Choi Bul-am expressed, ″I want to convey my gratitude to the viewers who have loved me for a long time. That is the heart of a clown.″ KBS will also broadcast ″Special Documentary: The Beloved Guest of the Living Room, Choi Bul-am″ on October 30 at 11:10 PM, and ″Special Documentary: Warm Adult, Choi Bul-am, You Were the Way″ on November 1 at 8:10 PM. KBS mentioned that Choi Bul-am hosted ″Korean Table″ for 14 years and 3 months from 2011 until last year, sharing stories of food and people from all over the country, and also noted that he bid farewell to viewers through narration in the 700th episode special of ″Korean Table″ in April last year. Choi Bul-am passed away around 10 PM on October 29 while receiving inpatient treatment at a hospital in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. He was 87 years old. He debuted in 1959 with the play ″Hamlet″ and was loved by viewers for a long time through roles such as Captain Park Young-han in MBC’s ″Chief Inspector″ and Chairman Kim of Yangchon-ri in ″Country Diary.″ He also appeared in various works including ″Heroic Age,″ ″Gourmet,″ ″The First Republic,″ and ″The Second Republic,″ and made a special appearance in ″Chief Inspector 1958″ in 2024. The funeral hall is set up at Seoul Asan Medical Center, and the funeral will be held by the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation. Choi Bul-am established a connection with the Green Umbrella Children’s Foundation through an adoption episode in ″Country Diary″ in 1981 and has been active in social contribution activities since then. After undergoing lumbar disc surgery in March last year, his health deteriorated, leading to his departure from ″Korean Table,″ and he has since been focusing on rehabilitation treatment.