"Seongki, Let's Meet Again"...Cho Yongpil's Farewell to a 60-Year Friend, Rushing Over With Chapped Lips

Rushed to the Funeral Hall Just Four Days Before the Seoul Concert
Sending Off His Middle School Desk Mate for the Last Time
"My friend who was kind since childhood...
I hope you rest in peace and continue acting in heaven"

Yonhap News Agency

"Seonggi, let's meet there again." The "King of Singers" spoke with a trembling voice. His lips were chapped and fatigue was written all over his face, but the sorrow of bidding farewell to a friend of 60 years seemed even greater.

On January 5, Cho Yongpil rushed to the funeral hall at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital. He stood before the portrait of his lifelong friend, actor Ahn Sungki. It was just four days before his nationwide tour concert in Seoul, leaving him with a hectic schedule. He said, "My lips are chapped from preparing for the concert, but how could I not come when my friend has passed away?" He could not hide his grief.

Their friendship dates back to their days as middle school students with closely cropped hair. As classmates at Kyungdong Middle School, they were desk mates. Cho Yongpil recalled, "Since our homes were in the same direction, we walked together every day after school," adding, "Seonggi was a good-natured, kind, and truly wonderful friend even when we were young," as he reminisced about their faded memories.

Even after each reached the pinnacle of the music and film industries, their friendship remained unchanged. Cho Yongpil said, "When we met, we weren't 'King of Singers' or 'national actor'-we were just friends. We would joke around, play golf, and spend time together." In 1997, Ahn Sungki appeared on Cho Yongpil's TV show and performed a duet, and in 2018, he was the first to appear in a congratulatory video for Cho Yongpil's 50th debut anniversary, showing the special bond they shared.

Yonhap News Agency

For this reason, his friend's illness and passing felt all the more surreal. Cho Yongpil recalled visiting his friend, who was hospitalized with blood cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic, only to be unable to enter the ward and instead spoke with the late actor's wife in the parking lot before leaving. He lamented, "When he was declared fully recovered and told me, 'Yongpil, I'm completely better,' I was truly happy, but now that this has happened so suddenly, it is unbearably heartbreaking."

He was at a loss for words, saying, "There must have been so much he still wanted to do..." While mourning that "a great star of the film industry has fallen," his final farewell was that of a true friend. "Don't be too sad, and rest in peace. Go up there and continue acting as you always have... Farewell, my friend."