Father of President Yoon passes away at 92

President Yoon Suk Yeol burns incense at a memorial altar for his father, Yoon Ki-jung, at Severance Hospital in western Seoul, Tuesday. The senior Yoon, formerly a professor emeritus at Yonsei University, died at the age of 92 earlier in the day. Courtesy of presidential office

By Ko Dong-hwan

The father of President Yoon Suk Yeol, Yonsei University Professor Emeritus Yoon Ki-jung, died on Tuesday. He was 92.

The presidential office said the senior Yoon was admitted to Seoul National University Hospital recently due to illnesses related to old age. Yoon stayed by his father's side during his last moments after rushing to the hospital following a Liberation Day ceremony, according to the presidential office.

A memorial altar has been set up at Severance Hospital for a three-day memorial service through Thursday.

President Yoon Suk Yeol talks to the leadership of the ruling People Power Party at Severance Hospital in western Seoul, Tuesday, when the lawmakers made a condolence visit to the funeral for Yoon's father. Courtesy of presidential office

“The president decided to hold the funeral for family members only to avoid a vacuum in state affairs,” presidential spokesperson Kim Eun-hye said. “He seeks understanding for not receiving callers or flowers, and sends his gratitude for the people who expressed their condolences.”

But the family decided to accept a minimum number of callers, as the senior Yoon had long been in academia and his former colleagues and students expressed their willingness to pay tribute to him, a presidential office official said.

Ruling and opposition party lawmakers as well as government officials offered their condolences in person, including Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea and Yoon's main rival during last year's presidential election, and Prime Minister Han Duck-soo. Former President Lee Myung-bak also visited the funeral to console Yoon, while ex-President Moon Jae-in sent a wreath and expressed his condolences in a phone call to Yoon's chief of staff, Kim Dae-ki.

President Yoon Suk Yeol poses with his father Yoon Ki-jung, Yonsei University professor emeritus, at his office in Yongsan District, Seoul, in this July 12, 2022 photo. Courtesy of presidential office.

This is the second time an incumbent president has lost a parent, following former President Moon Jae-in, whose mother passed away in 2019.

The late Yoon was a recognized scholar in the fields of economy and statistics as well as a mentor to his son.

Born in Gongju, South Chungcheong Province, he started teaching at Hanyang University in Seoul before becoming a professor in 1968 at Yonsei University's Department of Applied Statistics and Data Science. He was elected to lead the Korean Statistical Society in 1976 and the Korean Economic Association in 1992. In 2001, with his contribution to the national economy being acknowledged, he was selected as a member of the country's National Academy of Sciences.

Yonsei University Professor Emeritus Yoon Ki-jung, center, the father of President Yoon Suk Yeol, poses with his family at Gimpo Airport in Seoul in this undated photo. The boy in the front is President Yoon Suk Yeol. Screenshot from President Yoon Suk Yeol's Instagram

The late Yoon wrote many teaching materials on statistics and mathematical statistics and published various theses on data-based economics. He taught students until 1997.

The president recalled his father recommending him books about economics, including an original version of “Free to Choose” by American economist Milton Friedman. When the junior Yoon was serving as a prosecutor, he said he used to seek advice from his father, including when he had conflicts with the government over the investigation into the then-Park Geun-hye administration's corruption in 2016 and when he was about to decide whether to run for the presidency in 2021.

The late Yoon was last seen publicly with his son in April 2021, shortly after Yoon stepped down from the prosecutor general position and visited Namgajwa Community Office in Seoul for early voting in a by-election.

President Yoon Suk Yeol receives condolences from Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the chairman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, at Severance Hospital in western Seoul, Tuesday. Lee was Yoon's main rival in last year's presidential election. Courtesy of presidential office