Beginnings Kim Jong-hak was born on November 5, 1951, in
Jecheon,
North Chungcheong Province, the fourth son of seven siblings. While attending
Whimoon High School, he won an Excellence Award at the National High School Theater Competition in 1966.
MBC training After he graduated from
Kyung Hee University with a Journalism degree, he joined the broadcasting network
MBC in 1977. This was a period when the South Korean television industry was undergoing a creative transition with the launch of
color broadcasts and
ENG cameras, and the new format of short dramas adapted from famous novels, MBC's
Bestseller Theater (베스트셀러극장). Like most newbie production directors (called by the title "PD" in Korea), Kim slowly climbed up the ranks by assisting veterans, getting the occasional producer credit on
Chief Inspector (수사반장), the 1981 landmark
police procedural starring
Choi Bool-am.
Early works Kim became an assistant director on one of the
historical dramas (called
sageuk in
Korean) of his mentor
Lee Byung-hoon,
Royal Emissary (암행어사). In the following years, Kim would direct in all sorts of genres and formats, building versatility that would come in handy about a decade later. In 1983, he told the story of legendary
pansori pioneer Shin Chae-hyo in 1983's
The Jester (광대가) by Lee Eun-seong, one of the many three-episode experiments that would eventually lead to the birth of miniseries in 1987; he again worked with Lee the same year in the short
Gosanja Kim Jeong-ho (고산자 김정호, 1983), a
biopic of the notorious late
Joseon cartographer, and then moved on to
Dasan Jeong Yak-yong (다산 정약용, 1983), written by another
sageuk pioneer, Im Choong; he was even entrusted the June 25 special (commemorating the
Korean War) which adapted
Jo Jung-rae's
The Gates of Men (인간의 문) for the small screen, a tale of a left-wing partisan's guilt 20 years after his war crimes. It would take him until 1986 to debut as a bonafide director for an entire series, by taking over for Lee Byung-hoon in MBC's
sageuk franchise
500 Years of Joseon (조선왕조 500년), of which Kim directed
The Hoechun Gate (회천문; he shared co-directing credits with Lee) and
Namhan Fortress (남한산성). But 1987 and 1988 were the years that cemented him as one of
Yeouido's most important young directors, not only because of his style and versatility but also his eclectic choices. He helmed the first of many Kim Seong-jong adaptations with
Beautiful Affair (아름다운 밀회), about the power struggle that ensues after the death of a powerful company chairman.
Collaboration with Song Ji-na That same year he met
Song Ji-na, a former radio drama scripter, and they would famously collaborate on eight dramas. Their first work together was
The Last Station (퇴역전선), an eight-episode miniseries (one of the first of the format) set in the 1970s and adapted from a
Huh Young-man manhwa, followed by their second series
Teacher, Teacher, Our Teacher (선생님 선생님 우리 선생님). But their partnership blossomed with
Human Market (인간시장), adapted from Kim Hong-shin's bestseller and which became one of the classics of 1980s Korean TV (
SBS would later
remake it in 2004). Among the cast of
Human Market was actor
Park Sang-won, who would continue to work with Kim and Song through the years.
Eyes of Dawn But Kim's true breakthrough came with
Eyes of Dawn. To celebrate MBC's 30th anniversary, Song and Kim adapted Kim Seong-jong's 10-volume novel (published in 1981), embarking on a drama that would make Korean television history.
Eyes of Dawn began filming in advance in June 1990, with overseas shoots in the
Philippines and
Harbin (despite the fact that Korea and
China hadn't yet established diplomatic relations), a budget of (five- to ten-times the cost of an average drama at the time), over 270 actors and 21,000 extras. Starring
Choi Jae-sung, Park Sang-won and
Chae Shi-ra, the series depicted young Koreans caught in the maelstrom of turbulent history, from
World War II, to the
Japanese colonial period and the
Korean War. When it aired from 1991 to 1992, it reached a peak viewership rating of 58.4%.
Sandglass 1991 was also the year
SBS was launched, forming the three major Korean networks still existing in the present. The new station catalyzed fierce competition towards quantity and quality, and SBS began scouting writers and PDs from its rival stations. Kim had left MBC in 1992 and become a freelance producer, with his production shingle (which he co-founded with Song Ji-na) initially called Jcom. In 1995, he and Song moved to SBS to make
Sandglass, which revolved around the tragic relationship between three friends affected by the political and civilian oppression of the 1970s and 80s.
Sandglass was controversial because it doubled as a commentary on painful moments of Korea's contemporary history, such as the 1980
Gwangju Massacre (interspersed with its reenactment was archival video footage). It also became one of the most-watched dramas in the country's history, and the streets of
Seoul were reportedly deserted whenever it aired. With average ratings of 50.8% and a peak rating at 64.5% (the third highest of all time),
Sandglass made
Choi Min-soo,
Go Hyun-jung, Park Sang-won and
Lee Jung-jae A-list stars, and Kim into one of the most influential figures in Korean television.
Eyes of Dawn and
Sandglass were the peak of the Kim-Song collaboration, and their succeeding dramas, both with each other and with other collaborators, would not reach the same heights of critical and commercial success.
1996 to 2002 From 1996 to 1997, Kim took a break from the small screen and produced four films, including
Push! Push! starring
Hwang Shin-hye and
Bang Eun-jin. He returned to television in 1998, directing the action drama
White Nights 3.98 which starred Choi Min-soo,
Lee Byung-hun and
Shim Eun-ha. Adapted by screenwriter
Kang Eun-kyung from a novel by Han Tae-hoon,
White Nights 3.98 was not as successful in the ratings as Kim's previous series. (As of 2018, the company is now a subsidiary of
ESA Co., Ltd.) He collaborated with Song Ji-na for the sixth time in 2002's
Great Ambition (대망,
Daemang), a period drama starring
Jang Hyuk,
Lee Yo-won,
Han Jae-suk and
Son Ye-jin.
Fantasy epics The Legend His next project with Song took five years of planning. The 2007 historical-fantasy-epic
The Legend (also known as
Taewangsasingi, or "The Four Guardian Gods of the King") was highly anticipated for being
Korean Wave superstar
Bae Yong-joon's first TV series in five years, and also starred
Lee Ji-ah,
Moon So-ri, Choi Min-soo, Park Sang-won and
Lee Phillip. Despite excellent ratings (its peak was 35.7%) as well as positive reception from overseas viewers, the high production costs left Kim in debt.
Faith Kim's last drama was
Faith (also known as
The Great Doctor), his eighth and last collaboration with Song Ji-na. A fantasy epic about a 21st-century plastic surgeon who
time travels to the
Goryeo era and falls for royal bodyguard
Choi Young, the series initially cast
Lee Joon-gi and
Kim Hee-sun as the protagonists. But Lee was drafted for
mandatory military service, and he was replaced by
Kang Ji-hwan, who then became embroiled in a legal dispute with his agency, and the role eventually went to
Lee Min-ho. The casting changes stalled production for three years, and budget constraints forced Kim to modify his original plan to shoot in
3D. Given its budget and low ratings (around the 10% range),
Faith was considered the biggest television flop of 2012. Kim, who hadn't recovered from the financial setbacks of
The Legend, became mired in even greater debt. This resulted in him being ousted from Kim Jong-hak Productions, though the company retained his name under new leadership. Several months after the drama ended, members of the
Faith cast and crew filed a lawsuit in February 2013 against Kim over unpaid wages amounting to (), under the charge that he had
misappropriated for personal use. Furthermore, Kim was accused of double-contracting
Faith's
soundtrack rights to two separate companies. In May 2013, Kim was placed under investigation for
fraud,
embezzlement and professional negligence. In China at the time filming a
Chinese television drama, Kim was summoned back home on account of the lawsuit, then issued an overseas travel ban. Devastated, he told his friends that his own life appeared to have become a soap opera. He continued to deny any allegations of wrongdoing. ==Death==