Kim Baek-bong

Kim Baek-bong (; February 12, 1927 – April 11, 2023), born Kim Choong-sil , was a South Korean choreographer and dancer widely considered a pioneer of neoclassical Korean dance. She is famously referred to as the "Root of Modern Korean Dance" and the leader of the "Renaissance of Korean traditional Dance" due to her role in modernizing ancient forms into the neoclassical style.

Defect to South Korea Following the division of Korea, Kim worked in Pyongyang before defecting to the South during the Korean War, establishing the Kim Baek-bong Dance Research Institute in Seoul in 1953.

Academic and Institutional Roles She served as a professor in Kyung Hee University at the Department of Dance from 1965 to 1992. The Kim Baek-bong Dance Preservation Society, established in 1995, continues to promote her artistic legacy.