Yuk Young-soo

In this Korean name, the family name is Yuk.

Yuk Young-soo
육영수
Yuk Young-soo in 1965
First Lady of South Korea
In role 24 March 1962 – 15 August 1974 Acting until 17 December 1963
President	Park Chung Hee
Preceded by	Gong Deok-gwi
Succeeded by	Park Geun-hye (acting)
Personal details
Born	(1925-11-29)29 November 1925 Okcheon County, Chūseihoku-dō (North Chungcheong Province), Korea, Empire of Japan
Died	15 August 1974(1974-08-15) (aged 48) Seoul, South Korea
Manner of death	Assassination by gunshot
Resting place	Seoul National Cemetery
Spouse	Park Chung Hee ​ (m. 1950)​
Children	Park Geun-hye Park Geun-ryoung Park Ji-man
Education	Baehwa Women's High School

Korean name
Hangul	육영수
Hanja	陸英修
Revised Romanization	Yuk Yeong-su
McCune–Reischauer	Yuk Yŏngsu

Yuk Young-soo (Korean: 육영수; Korean pronunciation: [juɡjʌŋsʰu]; 29 November 1925 – 15 August 1974) was the wife of the 3rd South Korean president Park Chung Hee and the mother of the 11th South Korean president Park Geun-hye. She was the first lady when Park was in office, from 1962 until she was killed in 1974 during an attempted assassination of her husband.

Early life

Yuk was born in Okcheon County, North Chungcheong Province, Korea in 1925, the second of three daughters of a prosperous self-made landlord. She graduated from Baehwa High School for Girls (presently known as Paihwa Girls' High School). In August 1950 she met Park Chung Hee through a relative who was serving under Park. On 12 December 1950 she married Park Chung Hee. While her mother supported her choice of husband, Yuk's father was against the match, so she married without his blessing.

First Lady

Yuk Young-soo participating in the Red Cross sewing volunteer activity (1963)

When Park Chung Hee was in the mission as the chairman of the Supreme Council for National Reconstruction, Yuk Young-soo's main interest was handling civil complaints. Jeong Jae-hoon, a disciple and secretary of the First Lady's Office for six years, recalled:

"We have conversations with as many people as possible to collect public opinion on the streets, and dozens of complaints a day are left with instructions. I made them run."

Yuk Young-soo always made a simple impression on people regarding Hanbok and elegance, and was a sincere wife to her husband at home. She also took great interest in children and health, and often visited orphanages and nurseries several times to develop policies for children's health. During her husband's tenure, she mainly took care of receiving guests and dealing with complaints, although she wanted to do her part as "a revolutionary's wife". She was also involved with the Red Cross and with children with autism. In 1970, the construction of Children's Grand Park started and opened the following year.

She was also close to the people, and visited patients suffering from leprosy. She helped to start several self-support projects, and visited the families of South Korean soldiers deployed to Vietnam, to comfort and console them. In 1973, she undertook projects which saw the development of vocational training institutes for poor and disadvantaged youth. Because of the efforts of Yuk Young-soo, a vigorous social services are professional because the social welfare-oriented vocational training that have had to know glim of poverty.

She also did not hesitate to try to influence her husband, especially in 1963, when, to resolve tensions with the American ambassador Samuel D. Berger, she invited him to the Blue House. Park Chung Hee then joked about it, going so far as to consider her "the first opposition party". In 1969, she created a private foundation with the aim of improving the well-being of South Korean children. In 1974, a mother was invited to the Blue House revealed that her child was suffering from facial paralysis. Yuk Young-soo found the best acupuncture center and hospitalized him.

Death

At 10:23 a.m., 15 August 1974, South Korean Independence Day, Yuk was gunned down by Mun Se-gwang, a Zainichi Korean and North Korean sympathizer, during an attempt by Mun to assassinate President Park Chung Hee.

Tomb of Park Chung Hee and his wife Yuk Young-soo at Seoul National Cemetery

The assassination occurred at the Seoul National Theater of Korea during an Independence Day ceremony. Mun intended to shoot Park in the theater lobby. However, his view was obstructed, and he was forced to enter and be seated near the back of the theater. During Park's address, he attempted to get closer to the President but inadvertently fired his Smith & Wesson Model 36 revolver prematurely, injuring himself. Having alerted security, he then ran down the theater aisle firing wildly. His second bullet hit the left side of the podium from which Park was delivering his speech. The third bullet was a misfire. His fourth bullet struck Yuk Young-soo in the head, seriously wounding her. His last bullet went through a flag decorating the rear of the stage. A bullet fired by Park Jong-gyu, a member of the President's security detail, in response to Mun's attack, ricocheted off a wall and killed a high school student, Jang Bong-hwa. Immediately following the capture of Mun, Park resumed his scheduled speech despite his wife being wounded and carried from the stage. Following its completion he picked up his wife's handbag and shoes and left.

Yuk was rushed to the Seoul National University Hospital in Wonnam-dong, central Seoul. Dr. Shim Bo-seong, who was chief of the hospital's neurosurgery department, began operating on Yuk at 11 a.m., which lasted for over five hours. The bullet damaged the largest vein on the right side of her brain and remained lodged within the brain. The surgery was unable to save her life and she died at 7:00 p.m. that same day.

Aftermath

Yuk Young-soo during her youth (1935)

Yuk was buried in a state funeral on 19 August 1974 at Seoul National Cemetery. After the assassination of Park Chung Hee, he was buried next to her. Park composed the following poem the day after Yuk's state funeral.

Like a Long Magnolia Blossom Bending to the Wind
Under heavy silence
Of a house in mourning
Only the cry of cicadas
Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am
Seem to long for you who is now gone
Under the August sun
The Indian Lilacs turn crimson
As if trying to heal the wounds of the mind
My wife has departed alone
Only I am left
Like a lone magnolia blossom bending to the wind
Where can I appeal
The sadness of a broken heart

Park Geun-hye then became the First Lady of South Korea, after returning urgently from her studies in France at the Joseph Fourier University. She held this position for five years, until her father's assassination in 1979. On her 42nd death anniversary, a concert was organized in her memory in Seoul.

Honours

• South Korea:
  • Honorary Recipient of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa (1967)
• Malaysia:
  • Honorary Recipient of the Most Exalted Order of the Crown of the Realm (1965)

Personal life

Yuk Young-soo, Park Chung Hee, and their children, including Park Geun-hye (1961)

Yuk Young-soo and Park Chung Hee had three children: daughters Park Geun-hye, the 11th president of South Korea, as well as Park Geun-ryoung and a son Park Ji-man.

Yuk Young-soo was a devout Buddhist and a devotee of Doseonsa in Seoul.

See also

• Assassination of Park Chung Hee

Bibliography

• Jager, Sheila Miyoshi (2013). Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea (Hardback). London: Profile Books. ISBN 978-1-84668-067-0.
• Keon, Michael (1977). Korean Phoenix: A Nation from the Ashes (Hardback). Prentice-Hall International. ISBN 978-013-516823-3.
• Oberdorfer, Don (1997). The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History. Reading: Addison-Wesley. ISBN 978-0-20140-927-7.

External links

• Young Soo Yuk Park, First Lady of South Korea at Find a Grave