MBC will bid farewell to veteran actor Choi Bool-am with a special memorial documentary, airing the first part on Friday night, October 30, as a tribute to the late star.
The broadcaster has scheduled the encore documentary, titled in Korean as ‘파하, 최불암입니다’, as a memorial special. The first part will air on Friday, October 30, at 8:40 p.m., with the second part following on November 1, according to Herald Muse.
The documentary revisits Choi’s life and acting career, presenting decades of his work as a single playlist.
While preparing the documentary, Choi spoke about the gratitude he felt toward his audience. “I want to convey my gratitude to the viewers who have loved me for a long time. That is the heart of a performer,” he said, in remarks quoted in the report. He had long emphasised the spirit of the performer, known in Korean as the spirit of the gwangdae, as central to his approach to acting.
Fellow actors also appear in the documentary to recall their time with him, including Park Geun-hyung, Go Doo-shim, Park Sang-won, Chae Shi-ra and Jung Kyung-ho.
Choi, who died at the age of 87, became a household name through ‘Chief Investigator’, the classic police drama that ran from March 6, 1971, to October 12, 1989. Across 880 episodes, he played the head of an investigation team, and the series became a defining police procedural of its era, helping to spark a wave of investigative dramas across Korean television.
His connection to that role endured long after the original series ended. He later returned to the world of the drama in 2024, appearing as the older Park Yeong-han in the prequel series ‘Chief Detective 1958’, a full-circle moment that underlined how closely his name remained tied to the character. Beyond the detective role, he spent 14 years hosting the KBS program ‘Korean Table’, travelling the country to showcase Korean food culture, before stepping down in 2025. In 2014, he received the Eungwan Order of Cultural Merit, one of South Korea’s highest cultural honours.
The memorial special therefore arrives as both a farewell and a record of that legacy, with the first instalment airing tonight and the concluding part to follow on November 1.
