Kang Hee-sun, the voice behind Seoul subway, dies at 66
The famed voice actor, who is widely known for Seoul and Busan subway announcements and decades of dubbing work, died Saturday after battling chronic illness and cancer.
Actor Kang Hee-sun
YONHAP
"The doors are on your right." Kang Hee-sun, the voice actor widely known for the subway announcements of Seoul and Busan, died Saturday at the age of 66.
Her family said she passed away from a chronic illness at around 2:10 a.m. Saturday at Inje University Sanggye Paik Hospital.
Born in Seoul, Kang attended Junggyeong High School and, dreaming of becoming an actor, entered the broadcasting and entertainment department of Seoul Arts College. At her professor's urging, she chose the path of voice acting, joining TBC as a member of its 10th class of voice actors in 1979, during her second year of college, before becoming part of KBS's 15th class of voice actors when broadcasters were consolidated in 1980.
Her first dubbed animation was "Anne of Green Gables" (1979) which aired on KBS. During the golden age of foreign films on Korean television in the 1980s and 1990s, when weekend movie programs such as "Weekend Classic Movie" (translated, 1969-2010) and "Saturday Classic Film" (translated, 1980-2007) dominated living rooms, she voiced Sharon Stone, Michelle Pfeiffer, Julia Roberts and Nicole Kidman.
Beginning in 1996, she reached citizens through the subway announcements of Seoul and Busan. In 2024, on tvN's "You Quiz on the Block" (2018-), Kang recalled that the subway recordings, which had to be delivered without any variation in pitch, were difficult. The announcements on Seoul's subway lines 1, 3 and 4, which are operated by Korail, were later replaced with machine-generated voices. "I went and listened to it, and it had none of the warmth of a human being," she said.
In "Crayon Shin-chan" (1992-), she voiced Bong Mi-seon, Jjanggu's mother, as well as the character Maeng-gu for 26 years. Her memorable dubbed lines included "Jjanggu, you're a wonderful son to us, you know that?" and "What parent in this world would stand by while their child is in danger? No such parent exists anywhere. To a parent, a child is more precious than life itself."
She served as president of the KBS voice actors' guild from 2013 to 2016 and as senior vice chair of the Korea Voice Actors Association, and received the award for best foreign film performance at the 2002 KBS Voice Acting Awards, the top acting prize at the 2005 KBS Voice Acting Awards and a Prime Minister's citation at the 2018 Korean Popular Culture and Arts Awards.
Kang was diagnosed with colon cancer in 2021 and, after the cancer spread to her liver, was told she had two years to live. Even while undergoing 47 rounds of chemotherapy, she recorded a Crayon Shin-chan theatrical film in a session that lasted 14 hours and 30 minutes. "There were times I recorded subway announcements from my hospital room," she said. Citizens reportedly even noticed that the voice announcing Daegok Station on Seoul's subway line 3 had grown lower in tone.
"She always held firm convictions about her work as a voice actress, and she loved it," said her son Ahn Eun-seok, who heads the independent film investment and production company Bon Film and serves as an advisory member of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council. She is survived by her son Ahn Eun-seok and daughter Ahn Ji-seon. Her wake is being held in Room 31 of the funeral hall at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, with the funeral procession set for 7:40 a.m. on the 6th, and she will be laid to rest at Honor Stone in Yongin Park.
BY JEONG HYE-JEONG [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
