Remembering his voice and smile
Kim Kwang-seok smiles in the wall painting at Kim Kwang-seok Memorial Street in Daegu. / Korea Times photos by Jung Min-ho
Late singer back in spotlight following family controversy
By Jung Min-ho
DAEGU ― The recent controversy surrounding the death of Kim Kwang-seok’s daughter has left many young people, especially foreigners, with one big question: who is he?
Kim was a singer-song writer who had a voice like no one else’s. For about 10 years from the mid-80s, he sang the songs that touched the hearts of many ― and died young.
“He is one of the singers who are well-known to Koreans, but not foreigners,” a PR official at the Daegu Tourism Bureau said. “Most visitors to this memorial street are Koreans.”
He was born in Daegu and was raised there until five years old. In an effort to promote tourism, the city government and artists decorated a 350-meter street near Bangcheon Market in 2010 with wall paintings in memory of the beloved singer.
It was one of the city’s most successful projects to attract tourists, drawing hundreds of people every day to revive the once-dying area..
This is a great place to visit both for his fans and people who feel nostalgic for the 80s and 90s with his mellow songs.
Visitors can walk next to the beautiful paintings as they listen to his songs playing from the speakers installed on the walls and read stories about him and his songs’ lyrics.
There is also a small stage where people can listen to the music of other singers singing his songs or their own almost every day in the late afternoon.
Music became an important part of Kim’s life early on. During his middle and high school years, Kim joined the school orchestra, where he learned how to read music and play the violin, oboe, flute and other musical instruments.
After entering Myongji University in Seoul, he sang at a cafe in Seoul’s Sinchon area. In 1988, he joined the band, Dongmulwon, which made him famous, and then began his solo career the next year.
“A Letter From a Private” was the song that made him a star. As a person who had served in the military and had lost his brother there, he had a lot of emotions to express about the country’s compulsory military system, and he did so movingly with his deep, sorrowful voice.
A man reads messages on the board.
The Story House
Those who want to learn more about his life may want to visit the Kim Kwang-seok Story House, which stands beside the street.
With his daughter, Seo-yeon
There, visitors can see many of his personal belongings, including diaries, notes, hundreds of photos and a harmonica, as well as brief explanations about what they meant to him.
Other than singing for the rest of his life, he had another dream: he wanted to buy a Harley-Davidson motorcycle and travel around the world.
“I would like to travel the world on it. I will cut my hair short, dye it blonde and hit the road at 40, which will be fun,” he wrote in a diary, never knowing he will never reach 40.
On Jan. 6 1996, two weeks before his 32nd birthday, Kim was found dead in what appeared to be a suicide. Many could not believe it. They said he would never leave his daughter, the person who meant the world to him, just like that.
Sadly, his love for his daughter, Seo-yeon, who died two days before Christmas in 2007, is the most palpable feeling visitors may experience at the Story House.