The senior vice chairperson of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC), a presidential consultative body, died of cardiac arrest at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.
Lee's casket arrived at Incheon International Airport earlier in the day, where government officials and political figures including senior presidential aide Cho Jung-sik gathered to pay their respects, before being transported to Seoul National University Hospital for his funeral service.
According to PUAC, Prime Minister Kim Min-seok will oversee Lee's funeral service along with the ruling Democratic Party (DP)'s leader Jeong Cheong-rae.
Mourners will be allowed to pay their respects for five days at a memorial altar at the hospital in central Seoul.
Born in 1952 in Cheongyang, South Chungcheong Province, the seven-term lawmaker began his political career in 1988 after fighting for South Korea's democracy in the 1970s and went on to serve in numerous government roles. He remained a respected and influential figure within the liberal camp, even after retiring from politics in 2020.
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