wfn.org | Korean first lady receives Scarritt-Bennett justice award

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.ORG>]

May 9, 2002 News media contact: Linda Green7(615)742-54707Nashville, Tenn.
10-35-71BP{217}

NOTE: Photographs are available.

By Martha Pilcher*

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (UMNS) - Four decades after graduating, the first lady of
the Republic of Korea returned to her alma mater May 7 to be honored for her
work in bringing peace and justice to her country.

Lee Hee Ho, a 1958 graduate of Scarritt College for Christian Workers,
received the Outstanding Leadership in Peace and Justice Award from the
Scarritt-Bennett Center, the United Methodist retreat and educational
facility that succeeded the college. After receiving the award, Lee
delivered the Cal Turner Lecture in Moral Leadership at nearby Vanderbilt
University. 

 "Your leadership of women's organizations and associations in Korea brought
hope and empowerment to many," said the Rev. Carolyn H. Oehler, executive
director of Scarritt-Bennett Center, as she presented the award to Lee.
"Your partnership with your husband, now President Kim Dae Jung, led you on
an amazing journey of struggle and exile, of keeping watch during his death
sentence, calling on the resources of your faith to sustain you both." 

As first lady, Lee continues working for women and children, Oehler noted.
"We honor you today for your compassionate heart and your tireless work for
peace. We join your prayers for a world in which peace triumphs over hatred,
and our minds and hearts are open to each other."

The award cited Lee's "lifetime of courageous leadership in the cause of
freedom and justice" and her commitment to "lift and improve the situation
of Korean women" while serving all Koreans.
 
As she accepted the award, Lee reflected on the time she had spent on campus
47 years earlier. "Scarritt is my second home. It is here that ... with my
friends ... we talked about our dreams for the future."
                                                                 
She recounted the suffering from political persecution that she and her
husband endured for 40 years. "Along with my husband, I have experienced
countless trials. Because of his belief in democracy, he became the target
of constant oppression under military dictatorships. He had to suffer
imprisonment, house arrest and exile," she said.  

Kim was imprisoned, tortured, kidnapped and sentenced to death during a
30-year period. He received a death sentence that was later commuted to life
in prison and eventually to life exile. "Words cannot express how much my
husband had to suffer," Lee said. "But no less unendurable was the suffering
I experienced as his wife. I prayed every day, and God answered my prayers.
At last, he was elected president in December 1997."   

Kim's election marked the first transition of power from the ruling
opposition party in South Korea's history. "The country has now become a
democratic nation that respects human rights," Lee said.

She noted that Korea is the only divided country in the world and that Kim's
Sunshine Policy is "transforming a half-century of hostility into
reconciliation. The two Koreas are now pursuing peaceful coexistence." Kim
was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his work in reconciling South and
North Korea.

Lee received a master's degree from Scarritt College for Christian Workers
in 1958 after attending United Methodist-related Lambuth College in Jackson,
Tenn. Her career includes positions as vice president of the Pan-Pacific
Southeast Asia Women's Association (Korea Chapter), president of the
Research Institute for Women's Problems and general secretary of the
National YWCA of Korea. She is the author of Praying for Tomorrow: Letters
to My Husband in Korea and Love, My Country. In 1983, she received the Tower
Award from Scarritt Graduate School.

Imogene Joyner of Memphis, Tenn., was one of the friends on hand to watch
Lee receive the most recent award. Joyner was Lee's roommate at Lambuth and
Scarritt.

Joyner remembered Lee as "very quiet and loving. She couldn't do enough for
you. Her mission was to get her education and go back to her country to help
her people." She added, "I don't think any of us realized what Hee Ho was
capable of doing.  However, I knew there was something in Hee Ho that others
didn't see."

Lee was director of the South Korean Red Cross when she met Kim, a widower
with two sons and no job, Joyner said. "Madame Lee says that when she met
Kim Dae Jung, she saw something in him that was very special and knew he was
called to make a difference in our world."

Scarritt-Bennett Center, formerly Scarritt College for Christian Workers,
was founded in 1892 by the women's organization of the Methodist Episcopal
Church South. It ceased operating as a degree-granting institution in 1988.
# # #
*Pilcher is director of public relations for Scarritt-Bennett Center in
Nashville, Tenn.

*************************************
United Methodist News Service
Photos and stories also available at:
http://umns.umc.org