Mourners Pay Respect to Wife of Hyundai CEO
By Jane Han
Staff Reporter
Dozens of business executives, politicians and celebrities lined up Thursday to pay their respects to Lee Chung-hwa, the late wife of Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group Chairman Chung Mong-koo.
First lady Kim Yoon-ok was the first of a string of mourners who visited Asan Medical Center in Seoul on the first day of a three-day mourning period to express their condolences.
Lee, 71, passed away Monday at a hospital in Houston, Texas, where she was being treated for cancer. The mother of four, including one son, Chung Eui-sun, vice chairman of Hyundai Motor, and three daughters, was known to be a woman who devoted much of her life to looking after the Chung family.
Kolon Chairman Lee Woong-ryul, Kumho Asiana Group Honorary Chairman Park Sam-koo, his brother and group Chairman Park Chan-bup, STX Chairman Kang Duk-soo, SK Chairman Chey Tae-won and Federation of Korean Industries Vice Chairman Jung Byung-chul were among business leaders who paid respect to Chung's late wife.
From the political circle, Grand National Party (GNP) Chairman Chung Mong-joon, who is Lee's brother-in-law, and GNP lawmaker Park Jae-soon paid a visit to express their grief.
The funeral is set to run through Oct. 10.