Mrs. Lee Nam-deok Passes Away... Joins Husband, Painter Lee Jung-seop

In November 2012, Mrs. Lee Nam-deok donating a palette at the Lee Jung-seop Art Museum in Seogwipo, Jeju.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seo Mideum] It was confirmed on the 30th that Mrs. Lee Namdeok (101, Yamamoto Masako), the wife who greatly influenced the artistic world of the national painter Lee Jung-seop (1916?1956), passed away in Japan on the 13th. Mrs. Lee lived as a single woman for over 70 years after more than 10 years of marriage with Lee Jung-seop.

The two, who met as senior and junior in the art department of the Japanese Culture Academy in 1936, developed into lovers in 1940. In December 1944, at Lee Jung-seop’s suggestion, she crossed the Korea Strait alone and held a wedding ceremony in Wonsan. Lee Jung-seop gave her the name "Namdeok (南德)," meaning "a virtuous person who came from the south."

Mrs. Lee had to take responsibility for the livelihood instead of her husband, who lacked financial means. After her father’s death in 1952, she continuously lived in Japan with their two children. In 2012, she visited Jeju to donate her husband’s palette, a personal belonging, to Seogwipo. Ahead of the “Lee Jung-seop 100th Birth Anniversary” exhibition in 2016, she sent a letter saying, "Even if I am born again, I will be with you. Because we are destiny."

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