Koreana member Lee Yong-gyu loses battle with cancer

Lee Yong-gyu, second from right, of mega 1980's Korean pop group, Koreana, is pictured here with fellow members. Korea Times file

By Park Han-sol

Singer Lee Yong-gyu, a member of mega 1980s Korean pop group Koreana, died last week after battling cancer. He was 67.

The entertainer passed away at Asan Medical Center in Seoul, Wednesday.

The group Koreana is best known for performing the official theme song of the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics “Hand in Hand,” produced by the world-renowned Italian composer and songwriter Giovanni Giorgio Moroder.

After its release, the song topped the music charts in a number of countries, including Sweden, then West Germany and the Philippines, selling more than 16 million copies worldwide.

The band also drew attention from the public for its performances of “The Day,” a theme song of the 93-day-long international Daejeon Expo in 1993, as well as “We Are One” (1996) to promote Korea's 2002 FIFA World Cup bid.

Before renaming themselves Koreana, the group was known as Arirang Singers. It gained a reputation in Europe in the 1970s with the hit track “Dark Eyes” and was named one of the top 10 European musical artists by the then-popular German program “Der Musikladen” in 1980 along with ABBA and Duran Duran.

Largely appealing to fans in Europe, Southeast Asia and Middle East, Koreana became known as the artists who defined 1980s Korea and were synonymous with the 1988 Summer Olympics.

At the time, the family quartet consisted of three brothers and sisters Lee Seung-gyu, Lee Yong-gyu, Lee Ae-sook and Hong Hwa-ja.

Former member Lee Seung-gyu is the father of actress and model Clara, while Hong Hwa-ja is the mother of Kim Seok-won, a singer who appeared on “Superstar K5” in 2013 as part of the band Mr. Papa.