Ahn Dabin, the eldest son of the late screen icon Ahn Sung-ki, paid tribute to his father with a single, wordless photo on social media.
On Jan. 4, the visual artist shared a lone image: a photobook from "To the Starry Island," the Park Kwang-su film headlined by his father.
In the black-and-white shot, Ahn Sung-ki looks straight into the lens. No caption was needed―the image alone conveyed a son’s quiet respect and aching nostalgia for a father who lived and breathed cinema.
Ahn Dabin, the elder of Ahn Sung-ki’s two sons, is a painter and installation artist. He made his U.S. debut as a painter in 2006 and held his first solo installation show stateside in 2009. His younger brother, Ahn Philip, a School of the Art Institute of Chicago graduate, works as a photographer.
Ahn Sung-ki was diagnosed with a blood cancer in 2019 and initially went into remission, but the disease returned. He was rushed to the emergency room at Soonchunhyang University Hospital in Seoul on Dec. 30 after going into cardiac arrest and was treated in the ICU. He died six days later, on Jan. 5 at 9 a.m., surrounded by family. He was 74.
A wake is being held in Room 31 of the funeral hall at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital. He is survived by his wife, Oh So-young, and sons Dabin and Phillip. The funeral is set for Jan. 9 at 6 a.m., with burial at Byeolgeurida in Yangpyeong.
(SBS Entertainment News | Kim Ji-hye)