Veteran singer Han Myung-sook, who sang ‘The Man in the Yellow Shirt’, has passed away. She was 90 years old.

According to sources in the music industry, Han Myung-sook passed away on the 22nd. The funeral will be held at the funeral hall of St. Vincent‘s Hospital at Catholic University of Korea in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

Born in Jinnampo, Pyeongannam-do in 1935, the deceased began her singing career in earnest after defecting to South Korea and then on the stage of the US 8th Army Show after joining the Taeyang Music Troupe.

She truly shined as a top star in 1961 when ‘The Man in the Yellow Shirt’, released in collaboration with composer Son Seok-woo, became a popular song. Due to its huge hit at the time, it was also made into a ‘movie for theaters’ the following year in 1962, and the deceased herself appeared as the main character.

After that, Han Myeong-sook actively worked overseas and contributed greatly to spreading our songs. Thanks to the overseas popularity of ‘The Man in the Yellow Shirt’, she went on a tour, which was extremely unusual for the time, and this earned her the honor of ‘The First Korean Wave Singer’.

Han Myeong-sook continued her activities until the mid-1980s even after undergoing vocal cord surgery twice.

In 2013, she announced her comeback by releasing the album ‘Youth! Those Beautiful Days...’ with Anda Sung and Myeong Guk-hwan. Starting with ‘The Man in the Yellow Shirt’, the deceased produced a series of hit songs including ‘Our Town’, ‘It’s Snowing’, ‘Sentimental Guitar’, and as a result, he was able to boast a vast track list of over 300 songs.

In recognition of his ‘contributions’ to the advancement of national prestige as a Hallyu star and his consistent stage activities, the deceased was awarded the National Cultural Medal in 2000.


Reporter Heo Min-nyeong mignon@donga.com

This article is automatically translated using Google AI. If you notice any inaccuracies, please let us know at allkstar@donga.com.