Son Myung-soon (Korean: 손명순; Hanja: 孫命順; 29 January 1929 – 7 March 2024), also transliterated as Sohn Myung Soon, was the First Lady of South Korea from 1993 to 1998.[1][2]
Son was born on 29 January 1929 in Shinryū-yū, Kinkai-gun, Keishōnan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan (now Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea) to Sang-ho and Geunyi Kim.[citation needed] She had two sisters who died early and her birth mother died in 1935. Her father later remarried to Gam Deok-soon, and had two more sons and six more daughters. Her father Sang-ho ran the largest rubber factory in Reisan and was called the “Masan chaebol.”
Son graduated from Jin Young Daechang Elementary School in Gimhae-si, Gyeongsangnam-do and Masan Girls' High School in Changwon. She later attended Ewha Womans University, where she took course in Pharmacy and married Kim Young-sam in 1951. During her third year in Ewha, a new rule was established, which prohibited marriage of enrolled students. However, with the help of others, even after giving birth to her first child, she kept her marriage secret until graduation and was able to finish her studies.
On 18 December 1992, Kim Young-sam was elected President of South Korea. And when he took office as president on 24 February 1993, Son Myung-soon began working as First Lady of South Korea. As First Lady, she helped to build a restaurant or lounge at the Blue House for attendants, drivers, and female employees. Son was praised for being a quiet helper and for emphasizing the traditional role of women.
Son and Kim Young-sam had five children: three daughters (Kim Hye-young, Kim Hye-jeong, Kim Hye-suk) and two sons (Kim Hyun-cheol, Euncheol Kim). Kim Hyun-cheol currently serves as Executive Director of Kim Young-sam Democratic Center.
Son Myung-soon died on 7 March 2024, at the age of 95, from COVID-19.[3]
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Honorary Recipient of the Grand Order of Mugunghwa (1993)