By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Yoon Han-bong, the last man on a wanted list on charges of leading the May 18 pro-democracy movement and a director of the Future of the Nation Institute, died Wednesday of pulmonary emphysema. He was 59.
He received a lung transplant operation, but fell unconscious later in the day.
Poet Kim Nam-ju recalled him as a fighter and man with an unyielding will. ``Those values are hard to find among youngsters these days,'' he said in an interview with TV station MBC.
Born in Gangjin, South Jeolla Province, Yoon dedicated himself to the pro-democracy movement in 1974 when he first got involved in violating martial law with his fellow students of Chonnam National University.
He was not among the protesters of the movement back in 1980, but the then Chun Doo-hwan government put him on the wanted list for allegedly delivering two million won from former President Kim Dae-jung, then under arrest, to protesters.
He hid in the hull of a cargo ship eating bread and honey for 40 days till he arrived in the U.S. During his life as a refugee, he established Korean schools and the Federation of Korean Youth.
He was the last person to be removed from the wanted list in 1993, when then President Kim Young-sam officially cancelled the order to detain all people involved in the movement.
He returned to Korea and helped start the May 18 Memorial Foundation, the Future of the Nation Institute, and Dulbul Nigh School Memorial Foundation.
Though he suffered from the dictatorship government, he never asked for compensation. His brother Kwang-jang, who applied for the compensation for him, said that Yoon was a rare person, one who did not ask for anything in return for working for democracy and unification.
Yoon is survived by his wife Shin Kyung-hee. His funeral will be held on Saturday at Chosun University Hospital. His body will be buried in the National Cemetery in Gwangju.