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Former President Kim Dae-jung's wife, political partner dies

Lee Hee-ho, then first lady of South Korea, delivers a keynote speech during the U.N. Special Session on Children in this May 2002, file photo. Korea Times fileBy Park Ji-won, Kim Yoo-chul Lee Hee-ho, former President Kim Dae-jung's widow and a long-time fighter for women's rights in South Korea died Tuesday. She was 97.She died of old age at the Severance Hospital at 11:37 p.m., Monday (June 10), according to the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center. She had been hospitalized due to a worsening health condition since March 20. Born to a wealthy medical doctor's family in 1922 under Japanese colonial rule, the former first lady was one of the few Korean women who were educated at an advanced educational institute. Specifically, she graduated from Seoul National University, and later earned a master's degree at Scarritt College in the United States in sociology, the peace center said.After returning from the U.S. in 1958, she was most notable for being among the “first generation of women's rights activists” devoting herself to the movement for democracy in South Korea and to gain eq

Jun 11, 2019By Park Ji-won
Former President Kim Dae-jung's wife, political partner dies

The Korea Times and former first lady Lee Hee-ho

President Kim Dae-jung reads a copy of The Korea Times at Cheong Wa Dae in 1998. Korea Times fileBy Park Ji-wonLee Hee-ho, the late first lady and women's rights activist, and her husband the late former President Kim Dae-jung had a special attachment to The Korea Times.It is well-known that Lee and Kim were loyal readers of The Korea Times especially when the authoritarian governments screened local newspapers written in Korean and ordered them to rewrite stories in favor of the regimes. The Korea Times, however, was able to avoid the surveillance as it was written in a foreign language, which led the couple to read the oldest English daily in South Korea for its more accurate and fairer information about Korean politics during Kim's hospital detention, for example.Lee, who clipped English newspapers for Kim when he was in prison and in the hospital, delivered The Korea Times upon Kim's secret request to his confined room when he was detained, showing their attachment to the paper.A New York Times article that interviewed Kim right after his 1998 inauguration states that “Kim

Jun 11, 2019By Park Ji-won
The Korea Times and former first lady Lee Hee-ho

Ex-first lady remembered as political buttress for husband, pioneer for women's rights

In this file photo taken in November, 1987, Lee Hee-ho gives a speech during her husband Kim Dae-jung's campaign for presidential election. YonhapThe late former first lady Lee Hee-ho was a lifelong political companion of her late husband Kim Dae-jung, the architect of the "sunshine policy" of engaging North Korea, and a pioneer for women's rights.Lee died at the age of 96 on Monday after battling liver cancer, according to her aides.Lee was not like a shadowlike first lady but served as a political buttress for Kim throughout the ex-president's tumultuous life and an activist for women's rights. She was also an espouser of Kim's peace efforts with North Korea. "Lee was a great female leader and President Kim Dae-jung's life partner and companion," Prime Minister Lee Nak-yon said on his social media Monday.Lee Hee-ho was the first lady of the liberal President Kim from 1998 to 2003. Her husband died in 2009.Kim, South Korea's only Nobel laureate, was the architect of the "sunshine policy" aimed at engaging North Korea via vibrant inter-Korean exchanges and reconciliation.He held the

Jun 11, 2019
Ex-first lady remembered as political buttress for husband, pioneer for women's rights

Ex-President Kim Dae-jung's widow dies

Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, died Monday. She was 96. YonhapFormer President Kim Dae-jung and his wife Lee Hee-ho talk to each other in their house in this Aug. 12, 1993, file photo. YonhapLee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, died Monday at the age of 96, according to her aides.She had been hospitalized at a Seoul hospital while battling liver cancer."First lady Lee passed today at 11:37 p.m.," an official at the Kim Dae Jung Peace Center said.Lee served as chairwoman of the center, which was founded by her husband to promote inter-Korean reconciliation and world peace, and fight global poverty.The former president, who served from 1998 to 2003, is known for his "sunshine policy" of engagement with North Korea. He died in 2009.Lee accompanied her husband to Pyongyang in 2000 for the historic first inter-Korean summit with then North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.Kim Dae-jung won the Nobel Peace Prize later that year.After her husband's death, Lee made two more trips to North Korea, in 2011 and 2015, to continue to push for inter-Korean reconc

Jun 11, 2019
Ex-President Kim Dae-jung's widow dies

Eric Talmadge, AP's North Korea bureau chief, dead at 57

This photo from Dec. 1, 2015, shows The Associated Press' North Korea Bureau Chief Eric Talmadge in Pyongyang, North Korea. AP-YonhapBy Foster KlugEric Talmadge, who as North Korea bureau chief for The Associated Press tenaciously chronicled life and politics in one of the world's least-understood nations, has died. He was 57.Talmadge died this week in Japan after suffering a heart attack while running.A decades-long resident of Japan with deep expertise on Asian security and military issues, Talmadge seemed to have found his ideal job when he was appointed in 2013 to lead the AP bureau in Pyongyang, North Korea's capital. From his base in Tokyo, he traveled almost monthly to report on the nuclear-armed country's remarkable evolution under its young leader, Kim Jong Un, who took over after his father died in 2011.“For years, Eric's sharp work in North Korea has helped shape how the entire world saw a country that many of us knew little about,” said Sally Buzbee, AP's executive editor. “He took that responsibility very seriously, and it was never far from his mind.&r

May 17, 2019
Eric Talmadge, AP's North Korea bureau chief, dead at 57

Star educator, who built business empire Hansaem, dies

By Kang Hyun-kyungSeo Yong-ung, a star educator who assembled quite a fortune in the 1980s through his business empire Hansaem named after his nickname, died on Monday of a chronic ailment. He was 75.He lost his wealth in the 2000s as a result of the downfall of his education business. His unsuccessful bid for re-election in 2000 as a lawmaker also played a part in the fall of his business. Seo was the epitome of Korea's education fever. In the 1980s and 1990s, he was an unrivaled star in Korean literature courses offered by his for-profit education institute aiming to help students enter university. He was famous for his unique teaching technique “highlight and underline it,” a phrase he uttered during his lecture whenever he found keywords or key phrases that his students must memorize to earn good scores in Korean literature on the scholastic aptitude test. He is the author of the bestselling Hansaem Korean reference book series. They became must-have items for all students. Seo Yong-ung, a star educator who assembled quite a fortune in the 1980s through his business

May 7, 2019By Kang Hyun-kyung
Star educator, who built business empire Hansaem, dies

Korean ambassador to Finland dies

By Yi Whan-wooMoon Duk-hoSouth Korean Ambassador to Finland Moon Duk-ho died on Tuesday afternoon at a hospital in Helsinki. He was 58.The Korean Embassy in Helsinki said Wednesday Moon had been undergoing treatment for acute myeloid leukemia at Helsinki University Hospital.He was carried to the hospital after collapsing suddenly on April 22. “Funeral arrangements and procedures will be determined after consulting Moon's family and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Seoul,” an embassy official said.Moon had been serving as the ambassador to Finland since November 2018.After entering the Foreign Service in 1987, he worked in various diplomatic missions, taking him to the United States, France, Iraq and Vietnam.He served as the ministry's top official for international security affairs before his posting to Finland. He is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

May 1, 2019By Yi Whan-woo
Korean ambassador to Finland dies

Kim Hong-il, son, political ally of ex-President Kim Dae-jung, dies

Kim Hong-il, a former three-term lawmaker and eldest son of late former President Kim Dae-jung Korea Times fileBy Park Ji-wonKim Hong-il, a former three-term lawmaker and eldest son of late President Kim Dae-jung, died in Seoul Saturday. He was 71.The cause of his death is unknown. A local fire station said it received a report that Kim was found collapsed at his home in Mapo-gu at around 4 p.m. on Saturday. He was immediately transferred to Yonsei Severance Hospital in Sinchon but was declared dead at around 5 p.m. the same day.Kim Hong-il, right, former three-term lawmaker and eldest son of late President Kim Dae-jung, left, is seen during a party event in this April 16, 1996, photo. Kim Hong-il died at 71 on Saturday. YonhapThe younger Kim had suffered from Parkinson's disease for decades, apparently due to complications stemming from torture he underwent under the authoritarian governments of Park Chung-hee and Chun Doo-hwan in the 1970 and 1980s together with his father. Kim Dae-jung survived intense oppression, marked by assassination attempts and a death sentence as a dissiden

Apr 21, 2019By Park Ji-won
Kim Hong-il, son, political ally of ex-President Kim Dae-jung, dies

Ex-lawmaker, eldest son of former President Kim Dae-jung, dies

In this May 10, 1985, file photo, former President Kim Dae-jung, center, and his eldest son Kim Hong-il, left, attend mass at a cathedral in western Seoul. Kim Hong-il died on Saturday at the age of 71. YonhapKim Hong-il, an ex-lawmaker and the eldest son of former South Korean President and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung, died on Saturday. He was 71.A local fire station said that it received a report at around 4 p.m. that Kim had collapsed at his home in Mapo District, western Seoul.He was immediately transferred to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead about an hour later. The exact cause of his death has yet to be confirmed.Kim, a three-term lawmaker, had suffered from Parkinson's disease for years, apparently stemming from complications caused by tortures he underwent during past authoritarian regimes in the 1980s.Kim entered politics in 1996 when he was elected as a lawmaker for Mokpo, a southwestern town known as a stronghold for the Millennium Democratic Party, the predecessor of the current ruling Democratic Party.He lost his parliamentary seat, however, in 2

Apr 21, 2019
Ex-lawmaker, eldest son of former President Kim Dae-jung, dies
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