When a distinguished artist passes at a ripe old age, people tend to respond with the nostalgic claim that “along with him, the whole era has gone!”

Usually this is merely a sentimental exaggeration — the natural death of a particular person rarely signifies real social change. 

But the recent passing of the People’s Artist and Labor Hero Choe Chang Su comes very close to marking the end of times which have passed and will likely never return. 

A country-bumpkin with little personal ambitions who, nevertheless, grew into an actor of national acclaim, a diamond in the rough discovered and