Jeon Youngja, Wife of Late Novelist Lee Oisoo, Passes Away After Caring for Husband Even After "Graduated Marriage"

Jeon Youngja Passes Away on November 7

Jeon Youngja, the wife of the late novelist Lee Oisoo (1946-2022), passed away on November 7. She was 72 years old.

The late writer Lee Oisoo, who was cared for in 2021. Screenshot from Lee Oisoo's Facebook.

According to her family, Jeon died at around 10 a.m. the previous day at her home in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province. Born in Yanggu, Gangwon Province, she was reportedly selected as Miss Gangwon in 1973. She met Lee while working as a DJ at a caf? in Chuncheon, and they married in November 1976.

Jeon once appeared on EBS TV’s “Docu Woman,” where she confessed that she used to borrow rice while her husband was writing at his desk. She also reflected, “If my husband’s calling was to live his life as a writer, perhaps my own calling was to live as the wife of the writer Lee Oisoo.”

A photo taken in 2013 when the late Lee Oisoo visited Incheonham with his wife Jeon Youngja. Captured from Lee Oisoo's SNS

On this program, the late Jeon recalled, “If my husband’s calling was to live his life as a writer, perhaps my own calling was to live as the wife of the writer Lee Oisoo.”

At the end of 2018, the couple began living separately, and in 2019, they announced a “graduated marriage.” In an interview with Woman Sense at the time, Jeon said, “As my health deteriorated, I had many thoughts. My husband did not want a divorce, so we agreed to a graduated marriage.” However, when Lee collapsed in March 2020, she declared the end of their graduated marriage and stayed by his side to care for him.

She remained with Lee until his passing in 2022, after which she reportedly lived alone in Chuncheon.

She is survived by two sons-Lee Hanaul (writer) and Lee Jineol-as well as daughters-in-law Seol Eunyoung (winner of the Chosun Ilbo New Year’s Literary Contest) and Kim Kyungmi. The funeral will be held in Special Room 1 at Hoban Hospital Funeral Hall in Chuncheon, with the procession scheduled for 6:30 a.m. on November 10.