The acclaimed director was behind some of Korea’s most celebrated dramas.
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Veteran K-Drama director Ahn Pan Seok, known for acclaimed series including Behind the White Tower, Secret Affair, and Something in the Rain, has passed away. He was 65.
According to reports on August 12, Ahn Pan Seok suffered a cerebral hemorrhage in July and had been hospitalized while receiving treatment. He ultimately passed away on August 12. The production team behind his upcoming ENA K-Drama Love Doctor also formally confirmed the news, expressing their condolences and asking the media to respect his grieving family’s wishes by keeping the funeral proceedings private.
Born in 1961, Ahn Pan Seok began his broadcasting career when he joined MBC‘s drama department in 1987. He made his directorial debut through MBC Best Theater before going on to helm dramas including Partner, Roses and Bean Sprouts, and Ajumma.
His 2007 medical drama Behind the White Tower would become one of the defining works of his career. Set inside a university hospital, the series explored ambition, power, and institutional politics and helped establish Ahn as one of Korea’s most respected television directors. He continued to build a distinct body of work, with dramas that often examined relationships alongside class, power, and social expectations.
Ahn also became particularly beloved for his approach to romance. His 2018 drama Something in the Rain, starring Son Ye Jin and Jung Hae In, became a major hit, while One Spring Night, also starring Jung Hae In alongside Han Ji Min, followed in 2019. The two projects helped cement his reputation as a director capable of turning seemingly ordinary interactions and relationships into intensely intimate, realistic stories.
Before his passing, Ahn had also completed work on the upcoming ENA series Love Doctor, starring Kim So Hyun and Choo Young Woo. The series is scheduled to premiere in October and will now be released as the late director’s posthumous final work. Reports indicate that Ahn had completed both filming and editing before his hospitalization.
May he rest in peace.