Former Prime Minister Shin dies at 87

Shin Hyun-hwak

Shin Hyun-hwak, who served as prime minister shortly after Park Chung Hee’s assassination in 1979, died yesterday after more than a year of medical treatment for a fracture to his spine. He was 87.
A native of Chilgok, North Gyeongsang province, Shin entered government service in 1943 after passing the state servants’ examination. He entered politics in 1973, winning a legislative seat with Park’s Democratic Republican Party. Shin served as prime minister for six months, from December 1979 to May 1980.
Relatives, friends and others who knew Shin remember him as a man of principle in Korea’s rough-and-tumble modern history.
He was appointed welfare minister in 1975. During his tenure, Shin introduced the medical insurance system, establishing the foundation for the state health care system.
He served as the prime minister under the Choi Kyu-hah administration, but a power struggle began when Chun Doo Hwan took control of the country after the military coup in 1979.
In 1980, Shin submitted his resignation after protesting Chun’s attempts to dismiss the National Assembly and form an emergency committee to run the country.
“My father had said over the last year that we must always stand up and fight for the weak,” his son, Shin Chul-seak, deputy director of the policy coordination office, said yesterday.

By Kim Jong-yoon JoongAng Ilbo/ Ser Myo-ja Staff Writer