“Even the sky is indifferent”… The sad story of the original singer of ‘Jindtobaegi’ sung by Lee Chan-won

‘Jindtobaegi’ original singer Lee Seong-woo
He used to be an engineer and at the age of 37
His life as a singer is revisited

The story related to the original composer of the song ‘Jintobaegi’, which became a hot topic when Lee Chan-won sang it on ‘Mr. Trot’, is attracting attention.

The original composer of Jinttobaegi is Lee Seong-woo. It is a trot song written by Kim Sang-ok and composed by Song Gyeol. In fact, Lee Seong-woo was not the first person to sing Jinttobaegi.

The first to sing Jinttobaegi was ‘Meoru and Darae’, a duo of husband and wife singers in the 1990s.

Later, in 1997, the song was modified to have sound and lyrics that the public could more easily sing along to, and Lee Seong-woo took up the song and became active, and Jintobaegi gradually gained popularity for Lee Seong-woo.

The life of singer Lee Seong-woo, who sang Jinttobaegi

Lee Seong-woo’s real name is Lee Jae-yeol. He was born in 1960 in Seocheon-gun, Chungcheongnam-do, and graduated from Jeonbuk National Mechanical Engineering High School and Hongik University’s Department of Architecture. His debut was in September 1997 through Jinttobaegi.

He was originally working as an engineer at Bumyang Air Conditioning Co., Ltd. Debuting as a singer at the age of 37, he had such passion and talent for his singing that he abandoned his stable life as an engineer and chose a life as a singer.

Meanwhile, the word ‘Jintobaegi’ is a Gangwon-do dialect and means sotdae. Sotdae is a religious structure that resembles a bird sitting on a perch, and like a monk, it plays the role of a guardian deity that protects the village.

Lee Seong-woo, who successfully debuted through Jinttobaegi, was unable to be active due to personal circumstances.

Still, he continued to work little by little with the song Jinttobaegi and gradually built up recognition.

On July 8, 2012, 14 years after his debut, Lee Seong-woo appeared on ‘National Singing Contest’ and performed a Jinttobaegi performance.

After finishing the performance, he said, “I don’t know how much I cried when I got off the stage. “Now I really felt like I wouldn’t have any regrets even if I died,” he said, expressing his intense feelings.

He said, “I have sung on stages big and small, but ‘National Singing Contest’ is the dream stage for trot singers. “Just the fact that he stood on that stage was heartbreaking,” he said.

Two years later, on January 26, 2014, Lee Seong-woo appeared once more on ‘National Singing Contest’ and sang Jinttobaegi.

Since then, Jinttobaegi has become so popular that it is often selected at various singing competitions, and in 2014, it was selected as an adult’s favorite song at Geumyeong Karaoke.

Seongwoo Lee was not only good at singing. He revealed that he has excellent martial arts skills, including 4th degree kendo and 4th degree taekkyeon, and that he enjoys hiking and riding.

He gained popularity as a singer and continued his career as a singer, but in September 2018, he showed a noticeably gaunt appearance at the ‘National Top 10 Song Show’. At the time, he was suffering from cancer, and he became a hot topic by singing for his fans.

After being diagnosed with terminal pancreatic cancer, his condition worsened and he passed away at the age of 59 on December 19, 2018.

A netizen who identified himself as Lee Seong-woo’s nephew left a comment on Lee Chan-won’s social media after Lee Chan-won showed off his Jinttobaegi performance on ‘Mr. Trot’.

The netizen said in a comment, “Even though he is deceased now, I am so grateful to Lee Chan-won, who made me remember singer Lee Seong-woo and made it possible for me to listen to his famous songs.”

He said, “Uncle, live your dreams that you couldn’t achieve in heaven. “I miss you so much,” she said desperately. Chan-won Lee is known to have captured and stored the comment with a grateful heart.

When the story of the original singer, Jindtobaegi, who passed away before his 60th birthday was told, netizens responded with comments such as “I just listened to the original song and it seems really good,” “Thanks to Lee Chan-won, I learned about good songs,” and “I hope you can sing to your heart’s content in heaven.” showed.