| Han Moo-hyup 한무협 | |||||||||
| Birth Date: | August 22, 1923 | ||||||||
| Nationality: | Korean | ||||||||
| Occupation: | Retired Major General, Republic of Korea Army Honorary Chairman, Korea Esperanto-Asocio | ||||||||
| Alma Mater: | National Defense University Korea Military Academy | ||||||||
| Spouse: | Kim Yi-jung | ||||||||
| Children: | 5 | ||||||||
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Major-General Han Moo-hyup (Alfonso Moohyup Han, August 22, 1923 – August 22, 2017) was a Korean army general, businessman, and high-level government official of the Republic of Korea. He was the Honorary Chairman of the Korea Esperanto-Asocio,[1] formerly major general of the Republic of Korea Army, and CEO and owner of Hyundai Insurance. Park Chung-hee, former president of South Korea, officiated at Han's wedding as an old friend.[2]
Han, as a young boy, fled North Korea alone and joined the ROK Army. After Han graduated from the prestigious Korea Military Academy in 1948, he earned a second bachelor's degree in political science and diplomacy from Dankook University (1962). He then pursued graduate study at Hanyang University (1965), Korea National Defense University, and National Defense University in Washington D.C. Han is known to have had close relationship to the former Korean president Park Chung-hee and his family. Han married Kim Yi-jung, and together they have three sons and two daughters.
He died on, his 94th birthday, in Bundang-gu.[3]
As a professional military officer, he served in various key posts, including commander of the 26th Infantry Division, director for intelligence (G-2) of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and commander of Korea Army Training Center. Also, he worked for the Korean CIA (National Intelligence Service) as head of investigation. Later, he was offered a legislative seat by then ruling New Korea Party, but turned down the offer.
After his retirement from the ROK Army as major general, Han became a financier and headed insurance companies for over 15 years. He became the CEO and owner of Hyundai Insurance (formerly known as Dongbang Fire and Marine Insurance Co.) and later CEO of Haedong Fire & Marine Insurance (Regent Fire Insurance). As a devout Roman Catholic, Han also cofounded the Catholic Businessmen's Association of Korea in 1978 and served as deputy chairman.
Han was named chairman of the Board of Trustees of Kumoh Foundation, which owns Kumoh National Institute of Technology and Kumoh Technical High School. He later became chairman of Korea Esperanto-Asocio (KEA) in 1978, and a member of the Board of Trustees of the University of Suwon. He was later re-elected as KEA chairman in 1991 and served for 4 years.
In 1976, Han founded "La Espero el Koreio," a public relations magazine which introduced Korean culture and literature to the world in Esperanto. In total, 123 editions were published before the discontinuance of the magazine in 1994. Han and his publication "La Espero" played a crucial role in the development of Esperanto in Korea.[4] He served as chairman of the organizing committee of the World Congress of Esperanto, and presently he is the only Korean honorary member of the World Esperanto Association (Universala Esperanto-Asocio)[5] and honorary chairman of KEA.