Mountaineer Heo Young-ho passed away after a battle with bile duct cancer. He was 71 years old. He was the first person in the world to summit the highest peaks on all seven continents and to reach the three poles (North Pole, South Pole, Mount Everest).
Heo was diagnosed with bile duct cancer last year and passed away on the 29th after fighting the illness.
Born in 1954 in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province, Heo graduated from Jecheon High School and Chungju University. In 1987, he became the first Korean to conquer the summit of Mount Everest (8,848 m) in winter. In May 2017, he set records for the oldest ascent of Mount Everest in Korea (63 years old) and for the most ascents of Mount Everest (6 times).
He was the first person in the world to successfully summit the three poles (Mount Everest in 1987, South Pole in 1994, North Pole in 1995) and the highest peaks on all seven continents. He climbed the highest peaks, including Mount Everest, Aconcagua in South America (6,959 m), Denali in North America (6,194 m), Kilimanjaro in Africa (5,895 m), Mount Kosciuszko in Oceania (4,884 m), Elbrus in Europe (5,642 m), and Vinson Massif in Antarctica (5,140 m). He also reached the South and North Poles. Heo received several honors for his achievements, including the Sports Medal of Honor (1991), the Giant Award (1988), the Tiger Award (1991), and the Blue Dragon Award (1996).
Heo, who rose to prominence as a mountaineer, obtained a light aircraft pilot's license in 1998 to fulfill his childhood dream and aimed for a "world tour." On January 1, 2007, while piloting an ultralight aircraft called "Strik Shadow," weighing 225 kg with a wingspan of 9 m, he took off from Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, and experienced an engine failure while flying over 4.3 miles south of Cheongsando, Wando County, South Jeolla Province (38 miles northeast of Jeju), resulting in an emergency landing on the sea.
Heo was rescued shortly after the emergency landing by a gas transport vessel. In April 2008, he successfully attempted a solo flight from Yeoju to Jeju (1,000 km) again. In 2011, he completed a solo flight of 1,800 km, passing through Dokdo, Marado, and Galido, which are located at the eastern, southern, and western extremities of the Korean Peninsula, and returned to Jecheon Airport in North Chungcheong Province.
His mortuary was set up in room 7 of the Hanyang University Hospital funeral hall (visitors can pay their respects from 2 p.m.) He will be buried in the ancestral grave in Jecheon, North Chungcheong Province. The funeral will be on August 1 at 10:40 a.m.