Lee Hui-ho

Lee Hee-ho,

Early life Lee was born in Keijō, now modern-day Seoul on 21 September 1922 during the period when Korea was under Japanese rule. Lee's father was the fourth person to receive a medical license in Korea after graduating from Severance Medical College; her mother was a faithful Methodist born into a family devoted to Korean traditional medicine. Lee was the oldest daughter and the fourth child in a family of six sons and two daughters.

When Lee was 18, her mother died and this led to her decision to live up to three principles: not getting married, staying healthy and studying, according to her book "To Accompany." Moreover, her deep faith in Methodism and continued academic endeavours were influenced by her mother.

Lee graduated from Ewha Girls' High School.

Education Lee attended Humanities and Arts department of Ewha College in 1942.

Career First generation feminist of South Korea During the Korean War, Lee left Seoul and moved to Busan where she founded Korean Women Youth Organisation with her friends as opposed to women's league of North Korea's Communist Party. After quitting the Organisation due to its function in reality limited solely to assisting military and police officers, Lee worked for youth division of National Council of Churches in Korea.

In 1952 Lee co-founded Research Institute for Women's Issues with her fellow women's rights activists including Lee Tai-young and continued to lead the Institute as the second president of the institute from 1964 to 1970.

First Lady of South Korea In June 2000, First Lady Lee Hee-ho accompanied her husband to North Korea for the 2000 inter-Korean summit, which was the first time that the leaders of North and South Korea met face-to-face since the division of Korea.

At the age of 92, Lee led an 18-member delegation on a goodwill trip to North Korea from 5–8 August 2015. Her delegation included former Minister of Culture Kim Sung-jae, scholar Paik Nak-chung, and several educators, but no members of the sitting South Korean government.

Personal life In 1962, Lee married Kim Dae-jung.

Death In April 2019, Lee's oldest stepson, Kim Hong-il, a politician and former lawmaker, died at the age of 71.

Honours

Grand Master and Knight of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa (1998)