When he, whose expression has said more,
Began to speak in a talk show
A young singer, sitting in front of him
Was moved to tears
Is it because she felt overwhelmed
By his scent which was so sweet
Unlike those mostly smelling nasty
From long years of worldliness?
Not all
Can have such an old age as his
Leaving such beautiful flowers unplucked
So that he can come again to see them
Only one, who has played
The role of mediator between God and man
For about 50 years on a dark stage
Only one, who has endured
The punishment of living in this world
As if he were a 3,000-year-old monk
For he was born dozens of times
Has lived enough years
To be able to say
All come in first
Not one person alone.
A Note on the Poem
Is that a real monk acting? I wondered that as I watched the movies, A Little Monk, and Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter… and Spring about 20 years ago. Later on, I came to know that it was an actor who performed in them, but I did not remember his name.
Two years ago, I was glad to see his face on the poster of the play, Snow of March. I checked the actor’s name, but did not remember it then either.
This year, his name has become well known through the Netflix drama, Squid Game, becoming the talk of the whole world. Oh Yeongsu. Aged 77, he has acted for about 50 years. Acting on the stage for a long time, he then moved into TV dramas and movies. He had a reputation for perfectly playing the roles he was given, even though they are not big roles.
He showed the attitude of not being excited by false reputation, though he was grateful for having become a star thanks to Squid Game. What he said in several interviews tells us the wisdom of old age. It shows his strong will to faithfully live every day, contemplating silently, never getting carried away by all the various emotions of life.
A young singer actively engaged in entertainment was moved to tears unconsciously by his words. This scene was very impressive, because this is an age when there are few elders who can move the hearts of younger generations.
Asked to appear on a commercial advertisement after he gained popularity, he refused it, wanting to maintain the position of an actor. This attitude proves that he has persistently disciplined his mentality in the course of acting. The fact that he tried to improve his physical health by doing parallel bars every day might also have helped him to keep his composure.
As human beings are imperfect, he may later regret rejecting the offer of a commercial. It is the way an actor is supposed to go, embracing imperfect humans including himself. We believe that he may know it. We hope he keeps his position as our contemporary ‘Gganbu’ for a long time to come.
Jang Jae-Seon is currently a senior journalist at the Munwha Ilbo. He is a member
of the Society of Korean Poets, and International PEN. He has published his poetry
book The Road Not Slanted , and a collection of poetry and prose The Stars We Met
through Poetry , and a collection of prose The World through Films among several
others. He has won the Seo Jeong-ju Literary Award, and the Korean Catholic Literary
Award among others.
Translated by Kim Kooseul / Darcy Paquet
* 《Cultura》 2021 December (Vol. 90) *
