Painter Kim Byung-jong’s one-love

Kim Byung-jong, seasoned oriental artist and professor at Seoul National University, and Jeong Mi-kyung, his wife and a novelist with a glamorous writing style, were truly lovebirds. While he is seven years older than her, they have shared so many common things until now – from being a natural-born play-writer winning the annual spring literary contest held by JoongAng Daily to missing regular health check-ups for their entire life. Kim’s life partner passed away on early Wednesday morning.

Born in Jeonju, North Jeolla Province, Jeong was a bookworm from her early years. Her reading and writing never stopped even when she was admitted to the Department of English Literature at Ewha Womans University in 1978. She already collected awards for short and medium-length playwrights at the university writing contests. Her trendy and urban writing styles also awarded her with Ewha Centennial Literature Award (1982), Today’s Writer Award (2002), and Lee Sang Literature Award (2006).

The couple’s beginning was “College Entrance Examination,” a magazine for high-school students at that time. The magazine planned a series of introducing colleges, with Kim contributing his introductory article on Seoul National University and then followed by Jeong who introduced her alma mater. The romance began when he sent a fan letter to her after reading Jeong’s article. Their correspondence went on for over six months, and the two soon tied knots upon Jeong’s graduation.

Jeong was diagnosed as late-stage liver cancer exactly a month ago but refused to be treated, saying that she wants to spend the rest of days with her family.” According to her wish, the two lived at the study of their nest in Gwacheon. For three decades since their marriage, they never missed the two-hour coffee time after the breakfast, and shared each thought on literature and art. Indeed, they were “artistic comrades.” Jeong was also Kim’s manager and maternal supporter who managed her husband’s works and daily life.

“She worried about me even in her deathbed,” Kim said. To Jeong, Kim was forever a dear lover who showed “infantile” yet “passionate” artist. “I think I might fall into a state of mental panic, as those endless resonating and irreplaceable conversations with my wife suddenly stopped,” confessed Kim. During her lifetime, Jeong once said that “it may be impossible to suddenly capture a ‘moment of debacle’ with words, which makes us more eager to pursue that fascinating dream.” May Jeong, a dreamer who always yearned for creativity, rest in peace.