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Kim In-soon (Korean: 김인순; born April 5, 1957), known professionally as Insooni (인순이), is a South Korean singer who made her debut in 1978 as a member of Hee Sisters (희자매). Since then, she has recorded a total of 19 albums, 14 of them full-length albums. She is acclaimed as South Korea's R&Bdiva, having garnered a wide range of fans over her 45+ year career. She is one of the few South Korean singers to have performed at Carnegie Hall in New York City and has earned several top prizes from South Korean music awards. She is distinguished by her rich, throaty voice with wide vocal range on stage. She was born to a South Korean mother and an African American father, who served in the U.S. military in South Korea and was brought up by her mother alone, with the assistance of Pearl S. Buck International's child sponsorship program.
Early life and education
Insooni was born to a South Korean mother and an African American father in April 1957 in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province and her upbringing was fraught with difficulties from discrimination against foreigners, which was severe during this time in South Korea. Insooni has commented that "while attending school I felt like I was dirty compared to my classmates."[1] In-Soon graduated from Cheongsan Middle School of Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province and having had enough of the difficulties did not continue her education through high school. She has said that overcoming the difficulties came by singing.[1]
Career
In 1978, Insooni made her debut with the girl group Hee Sisters but South Korean public opinion doubted that a girl group could be successful in South Korea.[1] The Hee sisters' time allowed Insooni to show off her skills such as eloquent dance but the interest she attracted was merely that of outward appearance. In 1980, Fate (인연), Insooni's solo release debuted. 1983, with the age of disco setting in, If it's night, every night (밤이면 밤마다), saw her release a hit that rose and remained at number 7 on KBS charts through 1984, she rose immensely in popularity.
She has also released a live album of Contemporary Christian Music,[2] which was launched on August 11, 2006. It included Korean versions of the classic Christian songs "Amazing Grace" and "How Great Thou Art" (주 하나님 지으신 모든 세계), and other songs such as "Jesus" (찬양해) and "Through Christ".[3]
In 2007, she got special attention for her performance of the song "A Goose's Dream".[4]
Personal life
Insooni has one daughter, Saein Park, also known as Jasmine, born 1994, who attended Seoul International School as a high honor student and graduated from Stanford University. Her father is Park Kyung-bae. She is three-quarters Korean and quarter African-American.
Insooni is a Catholic. Her baptismal name is Cecilia.[5]
On April 29, 2023, Insooni was appointed by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo to the new Multicultural Youth Families Support Council in an effort to create 230 family centers and 527 Korean classes for school-age children, and strengthen career guidance such as career consulting, college student mentoring, and vocational training services for multicultural and mixed-race middle and high school students.[6]
^"조수미·인순이…교황 앞에서 노래한다" [Sumi Jo and Insoon... sing before the Pope]. Maeil Business Daily (in Korean). August 6, 2014. Retrieved October 28, 2020 – via Naver.
^"한총리 "다문화 청소년 지원 강화"…다문화위원 인순이 등 위촉" [Prime Minister Han "strengthens multicultural youth support"... Commissions Insooni, et al. as multicultural committee members]. Yonhap News Agency. April 27, 2023. Retrieved April 29, 2023.
^Ahn Ji-young (December 8, 2021). "메타버스 예능 '부캐전성시대' 론칭…송해·인순이·신정환·유세윤 참여" [Metaverse’s entertainment show ‘Era of Wealthy Prosperity’ launched… Song Hae, In Soon-i, Shin Jeong-hwan, Yoo Se-yoon participated] (in Korean). Munhwa Ilbo. Retrieved December 8, 2021 – via Naver.
^Lee, Kyung-min (October 18, 2023). "박미경 "몸 상태 완전 안 좋아"...박진영 '걸그룹 제안' 거절 ('골든걸스')" [Park Mi-Kyung, "I'm not feeling well at all"...Park Jin Young, "Girl group proposal" rejected ('Golden Girls')]. TV Report (in Korean). Retrieved November 1, 2023 – via Naver.
