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| Former Prime Minister Lho Shin-yong. Yonhap |
By Park Si-soo
Lho Shin-yong, a former Prime Minister and foreign minister who stood with the military junta in the 1980s and was a go-to person for former United Nations secretary-general Ban Ki-moon, has died of natural causes. He was 89.
He died on Monday at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno, Seoul, hospital officials said.
Born in 1930 in South Pyongan Province (currently North Korean territory), Lho moved to Seoul alone at the age of 19 and entered Seoul National University's college of law. He passed the brutally competitive state-run exam to become a Grade 5 public official in 1953 ― one year before graduation ― and began his public career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 1955.
He took over major decision-making posts in officialdom after Army general-turned-politician Chun Doo-hwan took power in a coup in 1980 ― foreign minister (1980-82), director of the Agency of National Security Planning (1982-85) and Prime Minister (1985-87).
Chun once considered Lho to be his handpicked successor but the plan failed due to a string of political scandals. Lho stepped down as Prime Minister in 1987, taking responsibility for the torture murder of pro-democracy activist Park Jong-chul.
Lho was a go-to person for Ban Ki-moon. He assisted Ban's rise in the foreign ministry by putting him in positions handling important diplomatic missions. A case in point was in 1985, when he was appointed Prime Minister, Lho picked Ban as his protocol secretary, a ranking that didn't fit for Ban, then a junior diplomat.
According to reports, Ban has assumed the role of supervising Lho's funeral.
It is scheduled for Friday at Seoul National University Hospital. His body will be buried at the National Cemetery in Daejeon.
Lho's wife, Kim Jung-sook, died in April 2009. He is survived by three sons and two daughters.
