Female Film Producer Jung Dies

By Han Sang-hee
Staff Reporter

Jung Seung-hye, the head of movie production company Achim and a famed copywriter, died Sunday from colon cancer. She was 44.

Jung has been suffering from the illness since 2006 and was hospitalized last month after her condition worsened.

"She struggled against the disease, but as the cancer spread to her lungs, her condition got worse", said Lee Joon-ik, director of the hit movie "The King and the Clown" (2005) and Jung's friend of 20 years.

Jung started working in the movie marketing business in 1989 at film company Shin Cine with the film "Happiness Does Not Come From Grades".

She moved to Lee's Cine World and produced numerous films including "The Spy" (1999), "Anarchists" (2000) and "Hwangsanbul" (2003).

When the film "The King and the Clown" hit the mark with more than 10 million viewers, she flew solo with her own company Achim in 2005 and continued to produce popular films including "Radio Star" (2006) "Shadows in the Palace (2007) and "Sunny". (2008).

"There was not one time in her professional life that she did not give her best. Even in her last moments, she hid the fact that she was sick because she didn't want to make others uncomfortable", Lee said.

Having the gift of words, Jung worked as a film columnist for various media channels and also worked on some of the most popular movies, both local and abroad, as a copywriter. She also released several books including "Jung Seung-hye's Cartoon Theater" and "Jung Seung-hye's Lion's Cage". In 2006, she also won the "Female Filmmaker of the Year" award from the Women in Film Korea.

Jung was until recently working on a new horror film "Scream" (working title).