Kim Minki, who battled stomach cancer, passed away at the age of 73.

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[Sports Chosun Reporter Yuna Lee] Kim Mingi, the singer best known for the 1970s song “Morning Dew,” passed away at the age of 73 on the 21st after battling stomach cancer.

According to the performing arts industry on the 22nd, Kim passed away as his stomach cancer symptoms worsened the day before.

Born in 1951 as the youngest of ten siblings in Iksan, Jeollabuk-do, Kim was a student who was deeply immersed in art during his middle and high school years. However, after enrolling in the painting department at Seoul National University in 1969, he put down his brush and turned to the path of a singer.

Kim Mingi, who was active as a duo named “Dobidu” with his high school friend Kim Young-se, composed the song “Morning Dew” which became his signature piece when he performed at “Cheonggaeguri’s House” in Myeongdong in 1970.

The song “Morning Dew,” sung by Yang Hee-eun, spread from the mouths of college students and became the representative song of resistance when it reverberated in squares during the democratic movement in 1987. His debut album released in 1971, titled “Kim Mingi,” was confiscated immediately after its release, and his songs such as “The Blooming Child,” “Song of an Old Soldier,” and “a Pine Tree” were designated as banned songs one after another.

After graduating from the painting department at Seoul National University, Kim Min-ki opened and ran the symbolic theater “Hakjeon” for over 30 years, nurturing young artists.

Kim Mingi, who directed the musical “The Light of the Factory” in 1978 and the play “Those Who Stand Still Don’t Have an Altar” in 1983, opened the small theater Hakjeon in Daehangno in 1991 and continued to direct performances, producing stars such as the late Kim Kwang-seok, Youn Do-hyun, Na Yoon-sun, and Jung Jae-il, all of whom are Hakjeon alumni. He also produced the “Hakjeon Eagle Five Brothers,” including Seol Kyung-gu, Kim Yoon-seok, Hwang Jung-min, Jang Hyun-sung, and Jo Seung-woo.

Closing its doors on the 33rd anniversary of its opening on March 15, 2024, the last work that Kim directed was “Gochujang Tteokbokki.”

In an interview with Yonhap News in November last year, Kim expressed his regret, saying, “I wanted to continue running Hakjeon until the day I die, thinking it was my duty, but I ran into realistic limitations.” He is survived by his wife, Im Mi-young, and two sons.

The funeral altar has been set up at Seoul National University Hospital.

lyn@sportschosun.com