SEOUL (Reuters) – The father of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol, renowned economist Yoon Ki-joong, died at age 92 on Tuesday, the presidential office said.
The late Yoon, formerly a professor emeritus at Yonsei University, had been hospitalised for an unspecified illness and died shortly after the president delivered a speech marking the anniversary of Korea’s liberation from Japan’s 1910-45 colonial rule.
“The president went to the hospital after the Liberation Day ceremony this morning, and stayed by his father’s side when he passed away,” Yoon’s office said in a statement.
Yoon was scheduled to depart on Thursday for the first-ever standalone trilateral summit with U.S. President Joe Biden and Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida at Camp David in Maryland, where they will launch a series of joint initiatives on technology, education and defence, senior U.S. officials said.
Yoon’s office said he has decided to hold a private funeral with only family members so that there would be “no vacuum in state affairs,” without elaborating.
In South Korea, the oldest son plays a major role in family funerals, which usually last three days but could go longer in some cases. Yoon has a younger sister.
A prominent economist, the late Yoon gained fame for his research on South Korea’s inequality and economic growth using statistical methods.
(Reporting by Hyonhee Shin. Editing by Gerry Doyle)
