Kim Min-ki (; March 31, 1951 – July 21, 2024) was a South Korean singer, composer, and playwright. He was best known for his 1970 song, "

Morning Dew "Morning Dew", also known as "(Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew", is a Contemporary folk music, contemporary folk song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bonnie Dobson. The lyrics relate a fictional conversation in a post-nuclear holocaust world. Ori ...

," and for his 1994 Korean adaptation of the German musical, ''

Linie 1 ''Linie 1'' is the second-most successful German musical after Bertolt Brecht’s The Threepenny Opera, Threepenny Opera. The title refers to U1 (Berlin U-Bahn), Berlin's subway line U1. The musical was first performed by the ensemble of the Grips ...

''.

Early life and education

Kim was born on March 31, 1951, the youngest of 10 children, in Iri (present-day

Iksan Iksan (; ) is a Administrative divisions of South Korea, city and major railway junction in North Jeolla Province, South Korea. The city center and railway junction was formerly called "Iri" (), but merged with Iksan County (''Iksan-gun'') in 19 ...

), North Jeolla Provence, South Korea. His family moved to

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

in 1963, and he enrolled in

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

to study fine arts in 1969.

Career

Kim first came to prominence as the composer of the tune "Achim Isul" (, literally "

Morning dew "Morning Dew", also known as "(Walk Me Out in the) Morning Dew", is a Contemporary folk music, contemporary folk song by Canadian singer-songwriter Bonnie Dobson. The lyrics relate a fictional conversation in a post-nuclear holocaust world. Ori ...

"), which was written in 1970 and performed by Korean

folk singer Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...

Yang Hee-eun Yang Hee-eun (; born August 13, 1952) is a South Korean singer and songwriter. Life Yang Hee-eun, the eldest of three daughters in Gahoe-dong, Jongno District, Seoul, graduated from Seoul Jae-dong Elementary School, Gyeonggi Girls' Middle Sc ...

. The song was a major pop music hit in Korea in the 70s, and Kim became a prominent figure in blending Korean folk and pop musics, as well as an outspoken political activist and representative of

youth culture Youth culture refers to the societal norms of children, adolescents, and young adults. Specifically, it comprises the processes and symbolic systems that are shared by the youth and are distinct from those of adults in the community. An emphasis ...

.Provine, Hwang, and Hershaw
Korea
''The Rough Guide to World Music'', vol.2. Rough Guides, 2000, p.165. Kim's songs discussed the

Americanization Americanization or Americanisation (see spelling differences) is the influence of the American culture and economy on other countries outside the United States, including their media, cuisine, business practices, popular culture, technology ...

Korean culture The traditional culture of Korea is the shared cultural and historical heritage of Korea before the division of Korea in 1945. Since the mid-20th century, Korea has been split between the North Korean and South Korean sovereign state, stat ...

and questioned relations between North and South Korea, and his lyrical and musical style were a major influence on the genre known as

Norae Undong South Korean protest music or Minjung-Gayo (Hangul: 민중가요; Hanja: 民衆歌謠) is a form of modern Protest song, protest singing culture in South Korea. It has been used as a musical means of supporting the Minjung, Korean pro-democracy mo ...

("Song Movement") which became popular in the 1980s. Sangnoksu (상록수, Sangnoksu, 거치른 들판에 푸르른 솔잎처럼, Geochireun deulpane pureureun soripcheoreom, lit. Evergreen) composed in 1979, was one of the favorites of the pro-democracy students until the late 1980s. He released nine albums before 1975, at which time his music was

censored Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or other information. This may be done on the basis that such material is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, or "inconvenient". Censorship can be conducted by governmen ...

by the government; his albums were pulled from record stores, playing of his music over the radio or singing it in public was banned, and he was not permitted to release material under his own name.Kim Min-ki
KBS Global. Accessed September 26, 2007. He composed the music for a 1981 film, ''

A Small Ball Shot by a Midget ''A Small Ball Shot by a Midget'' () is a 1981 South Korean film by Lee Won-se based on the same-titled novel by Cho Se-hui. It is about a dwarf and his poor, but loving, family who are forced out of their house by a real estate agent. Cast *Je ...

'', which was not permitted to be used by government censors who reviewed the film. This moratorium continued until June 26, 1987, when all restrictions on the performance of his material were lifted. During his period of censorship, Kim turned to writing plays, which began to be performed after 1987. He also formed an acting troupe, ''Hakchon'', which performs musicals he composed. His adaption of the German

rock musical A rock musical is a musical theatre work with rock music. The genre of rock musical may overlap somewhat with album musicals, concept albums and song cycles, as they sometimes tell a story through the rock music, and some album musicals and concep ...

'' was first performed in 1994 and has been given over 1,000 times in Korea, as well as being performed in China and Japan. In 2007 he received the

Goethe Medal The Goethe Medal, also known as the Goethe-Medaille, is a yearly prize given by the Goethe-Institut honoring non-Germans "who have performed outstanding service for the German language and for international cultural relations". It is an offici ...

Death

Kim died from stomach cancer in Seoul, on July 21, 2024, at the age of 73.

Awards

References

External Links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kim, Min-ki 1951 births 2024 deaths South Korean folk rock musicians South Korean male songwriters South Korean male composers Seoul National University alumni People from Iksan Musicians from North Jeolla Province Recipients of the Ho-Am Prize in the Arts Deaths from stomach cancer in South Korea