Iconic actress of '60s suffering from Alzheimer's

Yoon Jeong-hee.

By Park Si-soo

Actress Yoon Jeong-hee, 75, who led the renaissance of Korean cinema in the 1960s, is suffering from severe Alzheimer's disease, Yonhap reported on Sunday, citing unidentified aides.

She has lost memory to the level of “not discerning her children and siblings” and “asking for a meal right after having one,” according to Yonhap. She reportedly spends most of her time at her home in Seoul, attended by one of her two daughters and an unidentified sibling.

Yoon's husband Paik Kun-woo, a renowned pianist, is staying in France with the couple's other daughter.

Yoon started showing signs of the disease about 10 years ago, according to Yonhap.

Her last movie was “Poetry” in 2010, directed by Lee Chang-dong. Yoon played an Alzheimer's disease patient who brings up her grandson on behalf of her penny-pinching daughter.

It was her comeback movie after a 15-year hiatus. The movie earned her the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival that year.

Exuding graceful glamour, she rose to stardom in the late 1960s, shortly after her debut in 1967, and joined the league of cinematic icons ― along with Moon Hee and Nam Jung-im ― who ushered in the renaissance of Korean cinema.