Choi Jin-young

For the novelist, see Choi Jin-young (writer). For the tennis player, see Choi Jin-young (tennis).

In this Korean name, the family name is Choi.

Choi Jin-young (Korean: 최진영; November 17, 1970^[1] – March 29, 2010) was a South Korean actor and singer.

Choi Jin-young
Born	(1970-11-17)November 17, 1970[1] Seoul, South Korea
Died	March 29, 2010(2010-03-29) (aged 39) Seoul, South Korea
Cause of death	Suicide by hanging
Other names	SKY
Education	Kyungwon College – Creative Writing (dropout) Hanyang University – Theatre
Occupation(s)	Actor, singer
Years active	1990–2010
Family	Choi Jin-sil (sister)
Korean name
Hangul	최진영
Hanja	崔眞永
Revised Romanization	Choe Jin-yeong
McCune–Reischauer	Ch'oe Chin-yŏng

Career

Choi made his debut as a television commercial model in 1987 and began his acting career three years later. He rose to stardom in 1993 with the popular TV show Our Paradise, and his resemblance to his elder sister, popular actress Choi Jin-sil gave him a head start in his career, while his youthful image helped him gain recognition in various TV dramas, commercials and even films. Choi's acting career floundered but in 1999, after completing military service, he returned to the stage as a singer using the stage name SKY. His first album Final Fantasy was a success, with the popular single "Forever" topping music charts. He released his third and last album in 2004. In 2007, he returned to acting with a supporting role in the series It's OK Because I Love You, but failed to catch much attention.^[2]

Personal life

When Choi Jin-sil committed suicide on October 2, 2008, photos of Choi in tears clutching his sister's picture shook the nation, and fans wept with him as he led her funeral procession.^[3] Acting upon his late sister's wishes to finish college, he belatedly enrolled in Hanyang University to study acting in 2009, and played Demetrius in a staging of Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream.^[4][5]

Suffering from depression after his sister's death, Choi canceled engagements for more than a year. Friends later said he made several suicide attempts and had his stomach pumped for a drug overdose in 2009. Refusing his mother's pleas that he see a doctor, Choi relied instead on nonprescription tranquilizers he bought from a pharmacy. In January 2010, Choi signed with a new agency, MCloud Entertainment, and announced plans on March 2 to resume activities in the first half of the year, but his approaching comeback added to his stress and he increasingly felt frustrated that he wasn't getting cast in any TV series.^[6][7]

Death

On March 29, 2010, Choi hanged himself with an electrical cord in the attic of his apartment in Nonhyeon-dong, Seoul. When Choi did not answer the phone, Chung alerted Choi's mother, and the two hurried to his home together. His body was found by his mother and a woman identified as Chung, who was his junior in college. They called the police and a 119 rescue squad around 2:14 pm. Choi was rushed to Gangnam Severance Hospital for CPR at 2:46 p.m. but was pronounced dead on arrival.^[8][9]

Choi's body was cremated and his ashes was buried next to his sister at the Kapsan Cemetery in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province.^[10][11][12]

Filmography

Television series

• 92 Whale Hunting (KBS2, 1992)
• Our Paradise 2 (MBC, 1993)
• Landscaping with My Wife (KBS2, 1996)
• City Men and Women (SBS, 1996)
• Power of Love (MBC, 1996)
• Drops (MBC, 1997)
• It's OK Because I Love You (KBS2, 2007)

Film

• Well, Let's Look at the Sky Sometimes (1990)
• You Know What? It's a Secret 2 (1991)
• Does the American Moon Rise Over Itaewon? (1991)
• Beyond the Mountain (1991)
• Teenage Love Song (1991)
• I Want to Live Just Until 20 Years Old (1992)
• A Distant and Distant Future (1995)
• Final Blow (1996)
• Open The Door To Youth (1996)

Theater

• A Midsummer Night's Dream (2009)

Discography

Album information	Track listing
Final Fantasy 1st Album Released: November 17, 1999 Label: Doremi Media / KT Music	Track listing 영원 회상 My Lady Blue Morning 다시 사랑할 수 있는 날까지 작은 시간 Fell Empty 언제나 항상 내 곁에 The Best Is Yet To Come 영원 (bonus track/MR)
영원 II 2nd Album Released: November 12, 2001 Label: Wawa Entertainment	Track listing 24시간의 신화 인연 悲歌 (비가) 너를 위해 영원 II 고백 罰 (벌) 사랑하지만 男兒一言重千今 (남아일언중천금) 내 안의 너 영원의 빛 (instrumental) Never Sky 비야
Sky the 3rd 3rd Album Released: September 23, 2004 Label: Korean Association of Phonogram Producers	Track listing 백야 그때까지만 나는 너를 A 기약 나를 다시 시작 나는 너를 B 그녀는 눈물만 바라만 볼께요 사랑하니까 그때까지만 (MR)

Awards

• 1991 Chunsa Film Art Awards: Best New Actor (Beyond the Mountain)
• 1999 SBS Gayo Daejeon: Rock Award
• 2000 Mnet Asian Music Awards: Best New Male Artist^[13]
• 2000 대한민국 영상음반대상: Best Newcomer
• 2000 Golden Disk Awards: Best Newcomer

References

1. "Choi Jin Young". koreandrama.org. Archived from the original on April 21, 2017. Retrieved April 21, 2017.
2. Han, Sang-hee (March 29, 2010). "Choi Jin-young Dead in Apparent Suicide Monday". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on September 23, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
3. "Choi Jin-young Dead in Apparent Suicide Monday". The Korea Times. March 29, 2010. Archived from the original on December 16, 2022. Retrieved December 16, 2022.
4. Park, Sun-young (June 5, 2009). "Reunion for 'Midsummer Night' revival". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on July 10, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
5. Chung, Ah-young (June 9, 2009). "Star Actors Team Up in Shakespeare Play". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on June 30, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
6. Kim, Mi-ju (March 31, 2010). "Police: Choi depressed before suicide". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
7. "Star Choi Jin-young Commits Suicide". The Chosun Ilbo. March 30, 2010. Archived from the original on January 12, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
8. Kim, Mi-ju (March 29, 2010). "Brother of late actress Choi Jin-sil commits suicide". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
9. Kim, Mi-ju (March 30, 2010). "Choi Jin-sil's kin found dead from a possible suicide". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
10. 故 최진영, 사후 100일 만에 누나 최진실 옆 안장. No Cut News (in Korean). July 6, 2010. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
11. Han, Sang-hee (March 31, 2010). "Choi Jin-young Laid to Rest". The Korea Times. Archived from the original on May 18, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2013.
12. "Last memorial for Choi in Yangpyeong". Korea JoongAng Daily. October 3, 2011. Archived from the original on February 16, 2013. Retrieved January 8, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
13. "2000 M.net Korean Music Festival Winners list" Archived August 3, 2014, at the Wayback Machine. MAMA. Retrieved June 12, 2014.

External links

• 최진영 (Choi Jin-young) on Cyworld (02tiffany) (in Korean)
• Choi, Joon-ho; Seo, Ji-eun (August 24, 2010). "And to my dear son, I leave my blog". Korea JoongAng Daily. Archived from the original on December 10, 2015. Retrieved January 8, 2013.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
• Choi Jin-young at the Korean Movie Database