Park Yong-tae, Holder of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Namsadang Nori, Passes Away

Park Yong-tae, the holder of the National Intangible Cultural Heritage Nam Sadang Nori, passed away on the afternoon of the 24th due to a long illness. He was 77 years old. The late Park learned puppet play from the late Nam Un-ryong, who was a holder of Nam Sadang Nori. He also mastered pungmul, daejabi nori, and puppet making, becoming a certified practitioner of Nam Sadang Nori in 1977. Recognized as a transmission education assistant in 1981, he was named a holder in 2002 for his outstanding skills in puppet play, deotboegi, and pungmul.

Nam Sadang Nori is a comprehensive performance art passed down within professional entertainer groups. It played a role in criticizing the immorality of the yangban class and awakening the consciousness of the common people in the lower-class society. The performance is organized by the hwaju, who plans the show with the puppet master (kkokdusoe) at the top, and includes the ddeuntsoe who oversees the play, the performers called gayeol, the novices called ppiri, and the elder jeoseungpae, who perform pungmul, beorna, salpan, eoreum, deotboegi, and deolmi. The late Park’s surviving family members who worked to preserve and promote the tradition include his sons Park Joon-tae, Joon-hwan, and Joon-seop, and his daughter Jin-sook. The funeral is being held at the Myongji Hospital funeral hall in Goyang, Gyeonggi Province, with the funeral procession scheduled for 6:30 a.m. on the 26th.