[Obituary] Hangwoo Lee (1930-2021), a quiet Quaker and an active Peacemaker
In 1985, I began to attend a Quaker Meeting in Seoul, South Korea where I met Hangwoo Lee. One Sunday afternoon, after a Meeting for Worship, Lee gave a talk about his visit to North Korea. As my father was a North Korean refugee, I listened to Lee's fascinating talk with great interest. At that time, South Korea was ruled by a military dictatorship, thus Lee's talk on North Korea was a forbidden topic, and naturally Seoul Friends were very cautious about the possible bugging by the military regime of the Meeting House.
Lee was a Korean-American Quaker and visited South and North Korea nearly every year . Whenever he came to Seoul Quaker Meeting, he told me about North Korea. Thus, he was blacklisted by the military regime of South Korea.
In 1960, together with well-known Korean Quaker Ham Sok Hon (1901-1989), Lee founded a Korean Quaker Meeting in Seoul. In 1968, Lee went to Pendle Hill (Quaker Study Center in the USA) to study Quakerism for a year, then he settled in Philadelphia with his family. He worked as a computer analyst there and retired in 2003, when he was 73 years old. However, he did not even own his one house, as he spent most of his wages and holidays on the peaceful reunification movement of two Koreas.
Rather than going on family holidays with his wife and children, he met government officials and lawmakers of the USA, North Korea, China, Japan, and Europe and with them, he discussed, appealed and sought a way to facilitate the peaceful reunification of the two Koreas. Moreover, Lee spent most of his wages on publishing reports on Korea's peaceful reunification issues and sent money to help South Korean dissidents and political prisoners.
He was not a good talker, but he was a quiet man of action. He spoke through his life.
In 1974, he founded a 'Meeting for Suffering for Koreans' in the USA to help and support South Korean dissidents and their families
In 1982, as one of delegates of American Friends Service Committee (Quakers), he visited North Korea and tried to promote the peaceful reunification of the two Koreas. Since then, he has visited North Korea more than 40 times with this goal as his aim.
In 1986 he founded 'Korea-US Public Relations Center' in the USA, where he published 'Korea Report' in English. This was widely read among the US lawmakers, officials, activists, and journalists as well as the overseas Korean experts.
In 1987, he founded 'Korea Support Network (KSN)' in the USA and through the KSN, he not only supported South Korea's democratization movement but also raised public awareness among American politicians, officials, and scholars in relation to South Korean democracy.
In 1993, when North Koreans were suffering from famine, as one of delegates of AFSC, he visited North Korea and supported agriculture facilities there.
In 1995, Lee founded 'Peaceful Reunification Institute for two Koreas' in the USA, and the institute published various papers on peaceful reunification issues of two Koreas.
Lee laid the foundation for the peaceful relations of two Koreas and due to his relentless contribution, in June 2000, South Korea president Kim Dae-jung was able to visit North Korea and held a summit meeting with North Korea leader Kim Jung-il. It was the first summit meeting of the two Korean leaders since the cease fire of the Korean War in 1953. Subsequently in October 2000, Kim Dae-jung received the Nobel Peace Prize, thanks to Lee's invisible toil and effort.
In 2009, Lee led an International Conference on 'Ending of Arms Race in Asia-Pacific Region.'
Due to his contribution, in 2011, Lee received 'Korea Reunification Culture Award' from South Korea.
In 2013, after 45 years living in the USA, Lee returned to South Korea for good. After that I was able to meet him every week at Seoul Quaker Meeting. During this time, Lee gave me courage, comfort and inspiration while I was engaged in a lawsuit against a right wing government minister. Thanks to his kind support, in 2016, I won this legal battle. http://english.khan.co.kr/khan_art_view.html?artid=201606031507077&code=710100
In August 2020, Lee received 'Liberation and Peace Award' from the South Korean government in recognition of his contribution for peaceful reunification of two Koreas.
In September 2021, when I rang him on an international telephone call, he was on his sickbed but told me, "Sungsoo, let's live cheerfully!" He passed away in the morning of 16th October 2021 after a prolonged illness with cancer. To me, he was like a father figure, and he spoke to me through his life. An active peacemaker and quiet Quaker, Hangwoo Lee, I miss you!
* Sungsoo Kim is a member of Seoul Monthly Meeting and Leicester Quaker Meeting of Britain Yearly Meeting of Religious Society of Friends. He is author of 'Biography of a Korean Quaker, Ham Sok Hon.'