By Kwon Mee-yoo
Veteran actress Park Ju-a, 69, passed away Monday morning following surgery for cancer.
However, the family of the deceased insists that her death was the result of medical malpractice and they will not hold a funeral service unless the hospital provides a convincing explanation.
She was diagnosed as being in the incipient stage of renal-pelvis (part of the kidney) cancer and underwent surgery at the Yonsei Shinchon Severance Hospital in April. She was pronounced brain-dead Saturday, according to the family.
Park started acting in 1962 after passing an open recruitment exam at KBS.
She appeared in a wide range of dramas from "Three Sisters" (1982) to "Taejo Wang Geon" (2000), portraying characters including an affectionate mother and a charismatic heroine.
Recently, she played a kind-hearted grandmother in dramas such as "On Air" (2008) and "City Hall" (2009).
She starred in MBC's daily drama "I Trusted Him" (2011) before having the operation.
Often found at theaters and museums, Kwon Mee-yoo has covered a wide range of cultural fields from K-pop and dramas to theater and fine art for over a decade. Now as K-Culture Desk editor, she tries to connect Korean culture with global readers through fresh perspectives.