Veteran South Korean actress and voice artist Jang Mi-Ja has died. The Korean Broadcast Performers’ Union confirmed the star’s passing on Monday, January 27, stating that she died following an unspecified long-term illness earlier that morning, per the Maeil Business Newspaper. Jang, whose career spanned more than 60 years, was 84.
A beloved figure in the world of Kdramas, Jang began her decades-long career in 1962 when she starred in the play Without the Pain of Breaking the Shell. The following year, she joined DBS Dong-A Broadcasting as part of its first generation of voice artists, which later became KBS’s sixth generation.
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Although Jang eventually transitioned to the screen, she remained committed to her theater roots, performing in plays like The Bird That Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Drying Peppers, Golden Pond, and Human Time. She also often shared the stage with her husband, Park Woong, co-starring in productions of Living in Golden Pond and Dancing Silver Portrait, which marked their final stage performance together.
On the screen, Jang made appearances in both TV and film, and was known for her starring roles in dramas like Toji, The Second Republic, The Sons of Sol Pharmacy House, Believe in Love, The Light in Your Eyes, and King the Land. She is perhaps best remembered for her as the mother-in-law in Clinic for Married Couples: Love and War, which earned her the title of “the nation’s mother-in-law,” per Koreaboo.
Tributes poured in for the actress after news of her passing broke, with one person writing on Instagram, “Our condolences to her family and loved ones. May her soul rest in eternal peace.” On X, somebody else said, “RIP Jang Mi-J,” adding folded hands and dove emojis. Others paid tribute to an actress starred in “some of Korea’s most iconic dramas throughout her career.”
Jang is survived by her husband and their two sons. A funeral was held on Jan. 29, per reports, and Jang was laid to rest at Seoul City Cemetery.