Kim Kwang-Seok

Who was Kim Kwang-Seok?

Kim Kwang-Seok (January 22, 1964 - January 6, 1996) was a South Korean folk rock singer. He made his debut by joining the recording of a musical ‘Gaedongi(개똥이)’, which consisted of topical songs and was produced by a songwriter and activist Kim Min Gi in 1984. He also participated in the first publicly released album of "Noraerul Chanun Saramdul-Song Seekers", a group of activists & singers in 1987, and later created a more widely supported band “Dongmulwon(동물원)– The Zoo” in 1988. He jumped to fame with the first album of Dongmulwon, and shortly he began his solo career. Most of his songs were celebrated for his appealing vocals and introspective lyrics which were broadly loved by young generations of South Korea in 1990s. He released 6 studio albums and 5 compilation albums, and had many hit songs such as “On the street(거리에서)”, “Love has gone(사랑했지만)”, “A letter from a private(이등병의 편지) and ”Song of my life(나의 노래)”. He committed suicide by hanging on January 6, 1996.[1]