Lee Hee-ho, the widow of former President Kim Dae-jung, died Monday at the age 97.
Lee had been repeatedly hospitalized since March this year and died at Severance Hospital in Seoul at 11:30 p.m. on Monday, according to aides.
Born as the eldest daughter of a wealthy family in Seoul during the Japanese occupation in 1922, she graduated from Seoul National University and obtained a master's degree in sociology in the U.S.
Lee married Kim in 1962, when she was already 40, despite resistance from her family. Kim, two years her junior, was a widower with two sons from his previous marriage, and Lee gave birth to his third child the following year.
She was a long-term partner not only in private but also in his political struggle and stood by him through the long years of dissidence. Just a couple of weeks into their marriage Kim was imprisoned for six years, before spending about 10 years under house arrest and in exile, escaping a series of assassination attempts.
When he was elected president she became one of the most visible and influential first ladies in Korea. "The first and foremost duty of a first lady is to help the president stay strong to head the country," she once said, and "play an active role in the interest of a nation."
After Kim's death in August 2009, she was tireless in burnishing his legacy and served as honorary chairwoman of the Kim Dae-jung Peace Center, which was established in his honor.
