Author of best-selling English textbook dies at 80

By Yun Suh-young

Song Sung-moon, the author of the nation’s most popular English textbook series “Sungmoon English,” passed away at 4:30 p.m, Thursday. He was 80.

The legendary author died after eight years of fighting liver cancer. He had been hospitalized recently due to his worsening condition.

Born in North Pyongan Province in North Korea, Song graduated from Sinuiju University of Education. He was a teacher when he became an interpreter for the U.S. Army during the Korean War. Song defected to the South.

He passed the middle and high school-level English qualification exams while working as an interpretation officer for the military in 1952. After being discharged, Song became a teacher at Busan High School and continued his teaching profession at Masan High School and Seoul High School.

It was while teaching at Masan High School that Song began writing the “Sungmoon English” textbook series.

The first book was published in 1967. Originally called “Jungtong Comprehensive” series, 15,000 copies were sold in a year. The books became popular after a sample text appeared as an entrance exam question for Seoul National University.

In the 1970s to the 1990s, when there were few materials students could use to study English, the Sungmoon series was a must for middle and high school students.

The books, which focus mainly on improving students’ grammar and reading comprehension skills, have been sold for the past 40 years and remain a steady best seller among English textbooks. More than 10 million copies have been sold.

The “Jungtong” series became “Sungmoon English” after Song established his own publishing company, Sungmoon Book, in 1976.

Song was also an avid collector of Suiseki, or viewing stones, and old books. He donated much of his collection to the National Museum of Korea and received a state decoration in 2003 from the Korean government for the contribution.

Of his donations, four are national treasures, and 22 are designated treasures.

Song is survived by his wife, two sons and one daughter. The funeral will be held at Samsung Medical Center in Irwon-dong, southern Seoul. He will be buried in Donghwa Park in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.