SEOUL — Veteran cartoonist Kim Woo-young, widely renowned for his beloved long-running comic series Ddung-danjang, passed away on August 24 at the age of 87, it was belatedly revealed on September 8.

According to the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency, the late artist was born in Seoncheon, Pyonganbuk-do, in 1939, and evacuated to Busan during the Korean War, where he graduated from Donggwang Middle School and Haedong High School.

Originally named Kim Hye-kyung, he adopted the pen name "Kim Woo-young"—taking characters from the names of illustrator Woo Kyung-hee and General Choi Young whom he deeply admired—and later legally changed his name.

Kim entered the comic industry in 1956 as a third-year middle school student, publishing his debut work The Watermill. He subsequently released several works through the late 1950s, including The Ninety Thousand Li of Sorrowful Roads (1957), Star of Baekje (1958), and Weep, My Country (1959).

In 1967, he joined the Dongyang Broadcasting Company (TBC) as part of its 7th class of children's story production, participating the following year in the production of TV animations such as Golden Bat and Humanoid Monster Bem.

His crowning achievement is the 4-panel comic strip Ddung-danjang, which ran for approximately 30 years from March 1, 1990, to April 1, 2019, totaling 8,556 episodes in the Boys' Chosun Ilbo (now Children's Chosun Ilbo). The series captured the cheerful, mischievous daily life of a young boy with three strands of hair sticking out from his head.

Following the success of the main series, he published numerous educational and spin-off books, including Ddung-danjang's Comic Diary (1993), Ddung-danjang's Mingxin Baojian (1996), Ddung-danjang's Dokdo Exploration Team (1996), and Ddung-danjang's Quotations Walk (1997). His final published book was Comical Shorter Catechism in 2013.

Kim maintained close friendships with fellow cartoonists Kang Chul-soo and Lee Doo-ho, and received accolades including the 4th Gobau Cartoon Award (2004) and the 25th Saekdonghoe Nunsol Award (2009). He also served as the 3rd and 4th president of the Korea Christian Comics Mission.

During an oral history recording with the Korea Manhwa Contents Agency in 2019, Kim opened up about the immense hardships of maintaining a 30-year serial publication.

"Commuting to my studio in Gwanghwamun by bus, I would often struggle so much to come up with ideas that I would miss my stop, riding past Jongno 2-ga or 3-ga before having to turn back," he recalled. "There were many times when, completely drained of ideas, I seriously considered quitting to open a spicy mixed noodle shop with my wife."

[ⓒ Global Economic Times. 무단전재-재배포 금지]