With her trademark thick eyebrows, garish makeup and her peculiar outfits reminiscent of hanbok or traditional Korean dress, Kimera may have been forgotten in Korea. But the 1980s pop star, who made a name for herself mainly in France and elsewhere in Europe has never forgotten Korea. She still holds Korean nationality.
After a spell in the limelight following her debut with pop opera album "The Lost Opera" in 1985, Kimera disappeared from public view after her daughter was kidnapped in 1987.
Now, 20 years later, an MBC TV program has tracked her to show how her life has been. The "Never-ending Story" production team flew to Spain and found her working on a new album. The production team said that they were surprised to find Kimera still has Korean citizenship. "She has neither Spanish nor French citizenship," the program's producer Kim Jae-hwan said. "Despite inconveniences she has to suffer, she has not forgotten her identity as a Korean."
Kimera lives in Marbella, the glitzy resort town in Spain, as a wife and mother. Having stopped singing at the request of her daughter, she decided to come back at the request of her daughter, too.
In an interview, she said she was felt too much guilt when her daughter was kidnapped. She could not eat and sleep. The Kimera episode of "Never-ending Story," a program of interviews with past and current newsmakers, will be broadcast next Wednesday.
