Kang Heesun, Voice of Shin-chan's Mother, Steps Down from Crayon Shin-chan Amid Cancer Battle

26 Years as the Voice of Bong Miseon and Maenggu

Kang Heesun (64), the voice actor who has played the role of Shinnosuke's mother, Bong Miseon, for 26 years in the "Crayon Shin-chan" animation series, will be stepping down from the show.

Seong Heeseon voice actor (left) and the animation character Bong Miseon from Crayon Shinchan. tvN 'You Quiz on the Block', Crayon Shinchan capture.

On August 1, the animation channel Tooniverse announced on its official social media accounts, "Due to personal reasons of voice actor Kang Heesun, who has long played the roles of Shinnosuke's mother and Maenggu, the role of Shinnosuke's mother will now be voiced by Soyeon, and the role of Maenggu by Jung Yujeong."

Kang Heesun debuted as a voice actor in 1979 through TBC's open recruitment. She gained recognition for voicing Catherine Tramell in the "Basic Instinct" film series. In 1999, she won the hearts of audiences as the voices of Bong Miseon and Maenggu in "Crayon Shin-chan." In addition, Kang provided the voice for subway announcements for both the Seoul Metro and Incheon Transit Corporation.

However, in 2023, Kang revealed that she had been battling cancer. On the YouTube channel "Gan Boneun Uisa" in 2023, she disclosed that a colon cancer was discovered during a health checkup in March 2021, and that she had been undergoing chemotherapy. At that time, the cancer had metastasized to her liver, and a CT scan showed 17 metastatic lesions in the liver.

Afterwards, Kang reduced the size of the cancer cells through pre-surgical treatment, then underwent two rounds of ALPPS (Associating Liver Partition and Portal vein ligation for Staged hepatectomy) surgeries to remove the metastatic lesions, and received a total of 47 chemotherapy treatments.

Even during treatment, she continued to record for "Crayon Shin-chan." Kang appeared on tvN's "You Quiz on the Block" last year and said, "After being discharged from the hospital, I couldn't speak during that week, but my voice would return the following week. So I would record for Shin-chan then."

Kang said, "After my last surgery, I told the producer, 'PD-nim, I really can't do Shinnosuke's mother anymore. Please change the voice actor.' The producer offered to postpone the schedule, and since they were so accommodating, I couldn't refuse. Two months later, I went and recorded. After recording for four hours for the movie version, I couldn't get out of bed for four days."

Kang Heesun said, "I wondered how I could have endured if I didn't even have this work while being so ill. Although I am a voice actor, I truly love being a voice actor. I love my job, and I love Shinnosuke's mother so much," she said. "That's probably why I was able to keep going. I had my own willpower and sense of duty, and in fact, 'Crayon Shin-chan' became my support." At that time, she also commented on her health, saying, "I am under follow-up observation. I went recently, and everything was clear."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.