Last lead detective of legendary 'Chief Inspector' passes away

Actor Choi Bool-am died at age 87 on October 29 in Seoul, marking the passing of all four lead detectives from the legendary MBC drama 'Chief Inspector'. He was the final member of the original team to pass away, following colleagues Kim Sang-soon, Jo Kyung-hwan, and Nam Sung-hoon.

With the passing of Choi Bool-am, all four representative detectives from the MBC drama 'Chief Inspector'—a legend of Korean detective procedurals—have passed away. The four actors, who shared long years of hardship and joy in the work that captured home screens with peak viewership exceeding 70%, have left viewers one by one in reality. As Choi Bool-am, the last remaining member, has closed his eyes, the farewell he gave to his departed colleagues in his final acting performance in 2024 is resonating deeply once again.

According to industry sources on the 30th, Choi Bool-am passed away at approximately 10:00 p.m. on the 29th while receiving hospital treatment in Gangseo-gu, Seoul. He was 87 years old. With his death, the lives of the four representative detectives who starred together in 'Chief Inspector' have all reached their conclusion. Nam Sung-hoon passed away on October 18, 2002, Jo Kyung-hwan on October 13, 2012, and Kim Sang-soon on August 25, 2015. With Choi Bool-am, who remained alone after sending his three colleagues ahead, also passing away, the bond between the actors who symbolized an era now remains in history.

'Chief Inspector', which first aired on March 6, 1971, is a representative masterpiece of Korean detective dramas, having aired a total of 880 episodes over 18 years until October 12, 1989. It enjoyed national popularity with viewership hovering around 70%, capturing the facets of contemporary society and the sorrows of ordinary people through the activities of detectives solving crime cases. Choi Bool-am embodied the image of a detective possessing both a sense of justice and humanity as the central character, Chief Park Young-han. Kim Sang-soon, Jo Kyung-hwan, and Nam Sung-hoon also contributed to the golden age of the work by balancing the team with their distinct personalities and acting styles.

However, the colleagues who always solved cases together in the drama met their farewells in reality one after another. When Kim Sang-soon passed away in 2015, Choi Bool-am expressed deep sorrow, recalling the deceased as "an actor who was like a living witness of integrity." He added to the poignancy by mourning that it was heartbreaking that all the detectives he had led as chief had departed before him. His feelings for the colleagues he spent long periods with both inside and outside the work appear to have not easily faded in the years since.

After sending his three colleagues away and remaining alone, Choi Bool-am returned to viewers as Chief Park Young-han nine years later in 2024. This was in the MBC drama 'Chief Detective 1958'. Appearing alongside Lee Je-hoon, who played the younger Park Young-han, he played the role of an elderly Chief Park, serving to connect the original work with a new story. It was a symbolic appearance that passed the legend of the past to contemporary viewers.

In particular, the final episode broadcast on May 18, 2024, remains as Choi Bool-am's final acting work. In the drama, Park Young-han visited a police cemetery with flowers to reminisce about his departed fellow detectives. The names of Kim Sang-soon, Jo Kyung-hwan, and Nam Sung-hoon were engraved on the tombstones. Although it was a fictional space within the drama rather than the actual burial sites of the actors, the scene evoked the reality of the actors who had worked together for a long time in the original work.

Placing flowers before the tombstones, Park Young-han spoke to his departed colleagues, saying, "It's been a long time," and "I haven't been able to come often." He continued to ask after their well-being, saying, "Have you been well? Are you healthy?" Although they were already deceased, his natural way of speaking to them, as if they were colleagues who had just been away for a moment, fully revealed the character's longing. Park Young-han's attitude, appearing as if the memories with colleagues he spent many years with were still vivid, moved the hearts of viewers.

As he thought of his colleagues one by one, he said, "I wish I could live here too," and shed tears, saying, "I can't sleep well because I miss you." After staying by the tombstones of those who had gone before him for a long time, Park Young-han fell asleep briefly before opening his eyes again. The longing held by Chief Park in the drama left an even more tender lingering impression as it overlapped with the years passed by the actual actor Choi Bool-am.

And Park Young-han, who remained until the end, gave his farewell to his colleagues. The farewell scene in the acting of Choi Bool-am, left after all the actors who were together in the original work had passed, has now taken on another meaning in conjunction with his own passing. The four detectives of 'Chief Inspector', who met viewers over 880 episodes during 18 years, can no longer stand on the same screen, but the names and acting of those who built an era of Korean drama together are expected to be remembered for a long time.

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