Yang Jung-kyu, 79, chairman of the Republic of Korea Parliamentary Society and former six-term lawmaker, passed away late on Wednesday. He had been suffering from a chronic illness.
Born in Jeju in 1933, Yang joined officialdom as a secretary to the prime minister in 1964 and moved into politics by winning a seat in the 7th National Assembly in 1967.
He went on to serve in the 9th, 12th, 14th, 15th and 16th parliaments.
Yang Jung-kyu
In between and even after his parliamentary terms, Yang was known to be an influential senior figure in the political arena.
He worked as the floor leader of a group of independent lawmakers under the dictatorial rule of the late President Park Chung-hee. In the early 1980s, he served as the floor leader of the second largest opposition party under the authoritarian regime of President Chun Doo-hwan.
Yang served as chairman of the Korean Boxing Commission and vice president of the World Boxing Association from 1977-1985.
In 2009, the senior ex-lawmaker was elected the 16th chairman of the ROKPS, a fraternity of senior lawmakers, and later won re-election.
Yang’s funeral ceremony is to be held at Sinchon Severance Hospital at 9:30 a.m. Saturday.
Survived by his wife, two sons and a daughter, he will be buried near his hometown in Jeju.
By Bae Hyun-jung (
tellme@heraldcorp.com)
