Moon Ye Bong is a North Korean actress. She started acting in a theatre company with her father, Moon Soo Il. She first appeared on stage at the age of 13. She continued to work in a theatre company before making her debut as a film actress in 1932.
She appeared as a boatman’s daughter in the director Lee Gyu Hwan’s “The Boat Without Owner”. Then, in 1935, she took on the role of ‘Chun Hyang’ in the first talkie film ‘Chunhyangjeon’, and rose to the top star of the time. In 1935’s “Arirang Pass” directed by Hong Gae Myung, Moon Ye Bong and Noh Jae Shin played the lead role. The movie is about the difficulties that Arang, who was born into a stubborn noble family, falls in love with Chil Seong, the son of a servant who grew up with her as a child. The interesting thing is that Arang is played by Noh Jae Shin and Chil Seong is played by Moon Ye Bong. Two actresses played the male and female protagonists.
Then, in 1937, “The Traveller” made Moon Ye Bong’s popularity even more solid. However, when the film registration system was implemented in 1939, she registered as a film actress, and after the enforcement of the Joseon Film Ordinance in 1940, she continued to appear in propaganda films glorifying the war of aggression.
After liberation, she was active in the left wing, including being elected to the Central Executive Committee of the Joseon Film Alliance. She defected to North Korea in 1948. In 1949, she appeared in “My Hometown”, directed by Kang Hong Shik, as the first North Korean feature film.
She died on March 26, 1999 and is buried in the tomb of the patriotic martyrs in Pyongyang.
(Source: KMDb)