Yet another artist succumbed to hunger and illness last week. Actor Kim Un-ha, 40, was found dead in a tiny one-room dorm, five days after his passing.
Reports said that Kim’s death was brought on by ill health exacerbated by poverty. By all accounts, Kim died a lonely death.
A graduate of a prestigious arts school, Kim went on to pursue a career in theater. Work in the theater is spotty at best, making day-to-day living a struggle for stage actors. Kim had a part in a play that was staged in April and was expected to work again in a few months. When he was not working on the stage, there was no income.
Stories of poor struggling artists are not new. However, artists dying of hunger is simply unacceptable. According to theater insiders, an average actor can hope to appear in one drama a year, working for a typical three-month run. During those three months, actors earn about 500,000 won a month. In other words, average stage actors have an annual income of 1.5 million won, far below the poverty line.
Kim could have received government assistance that might have prevented his tragic death. The death of a scriptwriter who died of starvation in 2011 that shed light on the plight of artists led to the Artists’ Welfare Law. Artists with a record of having engaged in three professional performances or projects in the past three years are entitled to welfare benefits, according to the law. However, due to the lack of publicity about the law and difficulty in being “certified” as an artist, not many are able to take advantage of the system. As of June 2015, just 15,774 people have registered as artists.
The Culture Ministry, which has pledged to provide 3 million won each to 3,500 artists this year, has not been able to give out any money from the 10.5 billion won fund due to differences between the government ministries.
We seldom remember the tears and sweat behind each performance, each artwork. We only take away with us the beauty and the pleasures they provide. Realizing that lesser-known artists such as Kim and countless others face a daily struggle merely to survive should sober us into thinking about how we can pay them back for their invaluable service that enriches our lives.
