Lee Hong-koo, a former prime minister who led South Korea's foreign affairs and unification policies under the administrations of Roh Tae-woo, Kim Young-sam, and Kim Dae-jung, died on Wednesday. He was 92.
Born in 1934, Lee attended Kyunggi High School and entered Seoul National University's law school, but dropped out the following year to study in the United States. He majored in philosophy at Emory University and earned master's and doctoral degrees in political science from Yale University. After returning to Korea in 1968, he began teaching in the political science department at Seoul National University the following year, where he mentored students and served as president of the Korean Political Science Association, establishing himself as one of the country's leading political scientists.
Lee entered public service in 1988 when he was appointed as minister of the National Unification Board (now the Ministry of Unification) under the Roh Tae-woo administration. The following year, he spearheaded the "Korean National Community Unification Formula," the first unification policy forged through bipartisan consensus, and later served as special political adviser to the president and ambassador to the United Kingdom. He subsequently served as deputy prime minister and minister of unification under the Kim Young-sam administration, before being appointed the 28th prime minister in 1994. In the 1996 general election for the 15th National Assembly, he entered politics as a national constituency (now proportional representation) lawmaker for the then-ruling New Korea Party.
After the Kim Dae-jung administration took office, Lee resigned his parliamentary seat in 1998 and served as ambassador to the United States, working to strengthen Korea-U.S. cooperation during the foreign exchange crisis. After returning home in 2000, he continued active engagement in academia and the private sector, serving as chairman of the Seoul Forum for International Affairs, chairman of the Yumin Cultural Foundation, and a director of the Asan Foundation.
He is survived by his wife Park Han-ok; his son Lee Hyun-woo, head of EIG Asia; his daughters Lee So-young and Lee Min-young, a professor at Dongduk Women's University; his daughter-in-law Hwang Ji-young, president of the Korean Women's Association in Hong Kong; and his son-in-law Lee Kang-ho, a professor at the Korea National University of Arts. A funeral altar has been set up at Asan Medical Center in Seoul. The funeral service will be held at 8 a.m. on Saturday, with the burial procession to follow at 9 a.m.
