LG Honorary Chairmans Wife Dies at 85

By Cho Jin-seo

Staff Reporter

LG Group Honorary Chairman Koo Cha-kyung's wife Ha Jung-im passed away Wednesday morning at the age of 85.

Her funeral will be held at Seoul National University Hospital on Saturday, and will be attended by her friends, children and husband. She will be laid to rest in the family's vault in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province.

Ha was born in 1924 in Jinyang, South Gyeongsang Province. She married Koo, who was living in a nearby town, in 1942, when she was 18 and Koo was 17.

Koo Cha-kyung's father Koo In-hwoi founded Lak Hui Chemical Industrial in 1947, which became the LG Group. In 1969, Koo Cha-kyung became the second chairman of the group. Over the following 25 years, he led the group's rapid expansion into the electronics, chemical and retail industries with moral support from Ha.

Koo retired to the honorary chairman's position in 1995, and since then the couple have enjoyed a bucolic life on the family farm in Cheonan, South Chungcheong Province.

Ha and Koo had four sons and two daughters. The oldest son is Koo Bon-moo, the current LG Group chairman.

Unlike other conglomerate founding families in South Korea, Ha and Koo were never the subject of scandals or family feuds. On his 77th birthday in 2001, Koo told guests that ``I really thank and I really love my wife, who has supported me over the last 60 years as a companion.'' Their son Koo Bon-moo also said at the couple's 60th wedding anniversary in 2002 that ``my parents set an example to married couples, which is a precious legacy to be continued.'' Such a respected married life led LG Group to make ``Inhwa,'' meaning ``harmony among people,'' its corporate motto.

Ha's death also marked the end of the first-generation ladies' era in the Korean conglomerate circle. Samsung Group founder Lee Byung-chul's wife Park Du-eul died in 2000, and Hyundai Group founder Chung Ju-yung's wife Byun Joong-seok passed away last year.

indizio@koreatimes.co.kr