Director An Pan-seok, known for 'White Tower' and 'Pretty Noona,' dies at 64 or 65

An Pan-seok, one of Korean television's most respected drama directors, died on the afternoon of August 12, 2026. His age at death is reported as 64 by one outlet and 65 by two others; he was born in 1961.

He had been diagnosed with lung cancer the previous year and was continuing treatment when a cerebral hemorrhage compounded his condition. He collapsed from the hemorrhage last month and was treated in the intensive care unit, where he had shown signs of recovery before his condition deteriorated fatally.

An joined MBC's drama department as a producer in 1987 and made his directorial debut in 1994 with the single-episode work 사랑의 인사 (Love's Greeting) on MBC Best Theater. He left MBC in 2003 and worked as a freelancer from that point on.

His directing credits span nearly two decades of prestige Korean television: 하얀거탑 (The White Tower, 2007), 아내의 자격 (Wife's Qualifications, 2012), 밀회 (Secret Love Affair, 2014), 풍문으로 들었소 (Heard It Through the Grapevine, 2015), 밥 잘 사주는 예쁜 누나 (Pretty Noona Who Buys Me Dinner, 2018), 봄밤 (Spring Night, 2019), 졸업 (Graduation), and 협상의 기술 (The Art of Negotiation, 2025). He won the Baeksang Arts Award for TV Directing twice—for 하얀거탑 and 밀회.

His final work, the ENA Monday-Tuesday drama 연애박사 (Dating Doctor), had already completed filming and post-production at the time of his death and is scheduled to air in October. The series stars Chu Young-woo (추영우) and Kim So-hyun (김소현) as Park Min-jae, a doctoral student and former competitive swimmer who lost a leg to illness, and Im Yu-jin, a master's student who has lost her sense of direction. The two grow through each other and fall in love. That October premiere will now carry a different weight entirely.

An Pan-seok's funeral hall has been arranged at Seoul National University Hospital in Hyehwa-dong, Seoul.