Kang Heon, 64, chairman of the Korea Art & Culture Education Service and a renowned pop music critic, died in the evening of October 20.
Born in Busan in 1962, the late critic graduated from Seoul National University’s Department of Korean Language and Literature and majored in music theory at the university’s Graduate School of Music. He was active in the independent film collective ‘Jangsangotmae’ and wrote screenplays for commercial films, including *When Adam Opens His Eyes*.
He began gaining prominence as a music critic in 1991 with *A Study on Kim Hyun-sik*, an in-depth analysis of the singer Kim Hyun-sik’s music and life. He was a key contributor to cultural magazines such as *Yegam*, *Sangsang*, and *Review*, and from 2020 until recently, he serialized ‘Kang Heon’s History in Pop’ in this newspaper for 355 installments. He taught popular music history for 20 years at Hongik University, Sungkonghoe University, Dankook University, and Sungkyunkwan University. After surviving a coma caused by aortic rupture in his 40s, he delved into the study of *myeongri* (Korean metaphysical fortune-telling) and published *Myeongri: Reading Destiny* (2015). He also served as head of the Gyeonggi Cultural Foundation and president of the Korea Metropolitan Cultural Foundation Association.
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