Hyundai Group said on the 25th that the mother of Chair Hyun Jeong-eun, Kim Moon-hee, honorary chair of Yongmun Academy, died of old age at about 11 p.m. on the 24th. She was 97.
She was born in 1928 in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, as the daughter of the late Kim Yong-ju, founder of Jeonnam Spinning.
She graduated from the Department of English Language and Literature at Ewha Womans University in 1949 and completed the graduate program in international politics at Ewha Womans University in 1959. In 1966, she acquired the Geomsan Academy foundation and Gangmun High School and changed their names in 1970 to Yongmun Academy and Yongmun High School.
In the 1970s and 1980s, she served as chair of the Professional Women's Association Korea Federation (BPW Korea) and the Korean National Council of Women Voters, president of the Korea Girl Scouts, and chair of the Korea Council of Youth Organizations, dedicating herself to youth education and the advancement of women's rights.
She served as head of Yongmun Academy in 1995 and as chair of the board of Yongmun Academy from 1998 to 2017. Hyundai Group said she contributed more than 100 billion won of her personal funds to grow Yongmun Academy into a prestigious private school.
In 2005, she established the Imdang Scholarship and Culture Foundation, named after her pen name, and worked to cultivate talent through scholarship programs. In 2012, she donated 100 million won to Korea University to support research related to student counseling and character training.
The foundation is currently led by her granddaughter and Hyun Jeong-eun's eldest daughter, Jung Ji-i, an executive director at Hyundai Movex, who serves as board chair.
She also received the Order of Civil Merit, Dongbaek Medal, for her contributions to promoting youth education and gender equality, as well as the Kim Hwal-lan Female Leader Award.
With her late husband, former Hyundai Merchant Marine Chair Hyun Young-won, she had four daughters: Hyun Il-seon (spouse of Yoo Seung-ji, chair of Yongmun Academy), Chair Hyun Jeong-eun (spouse of the late Chung Mong-hun, Hyundai Group chair), Hyun Seung-hye, and Hyun Ji-seon (spouse of Byun Chan-jung, CEO of HST).
Her siblings include the late Kim Chang-seong, honorary chair of Jeonbang and the 3rd chair of the Korea Enterprises Federation (KEF), and Kim Moo-sung, former leader of the Saenuri Party (predecessor of the People Power Party).
The wake has been set up in Special Room No. 1 at the funeral hall of Severance Hospital in Sinchon, and the funeral is at 7:20 a.m. on the 27th. The burial site is Cheonan Park Cemetery.