Musicians remember the late singer and composer Kim Min-ki

“I couldn’t believe it, even though I was getting a lot of calls in the morning, but then I realized I had no one left to ask.”

Singer Park Hak-gi expressed his disbelief and sadness at Kim Min-ki’s funeral on Sunday afternoon. “I had no idea he would leave us so suddenly. I thought he still had time,” Park said. “I contacted him once a week to ask how he was. What should I do now?” He had been keeping the public updated on Kim’s deteriorating health.

Park Ki-young of the band Dongmulwon arrived at the funeral visibly saddened. “It’s similar to when my parents died,” he said. “You know it might happen someday, but when it happens.” Overwhelmed by her emotions, folk singer-songwriter Kwon Jin-won said, “I didn’t know he would leave this year,” burying her face in a handkerchief. Mourners continued to gather at Kim Min-ki’s funeral at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul.

Condolences also poured in on social media. Singer Lee Juck shared a photo he took with the deceased and wrote, “Brother, I believe you will rest in peace in heaven with a glass of beer. My hero, thank you.” Kim Gwang-jin of the duo The Classic wrote, “We are grateful for your music that accompanied us through many aspects of our college days.” Lee Cheong-yeol, the owner of Haklim Cafe in Daehakro, which Kim liked to visit, expressed his regret, saying, “When I saw him at his home in Ilsan a month ago, he had been walking with his sons and his complexion was fine.”

“History will remember you as an eternally young man with infinite affection for art and the world,” President Yoon Suk Yeol said on Facebook. “He made the world brighter with his ‘pure passion’ to see the obvious in a new way.”

The funeral will take place without condolence money or formal arrangements. “Everyone must have helped Mr. Kim a lot by cheering him on and raising a lot of money for his trip to the other side,” Hakchon said. Various donations to the theater, which was in financial trouble, appear to be “condolence money received in advance.”

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