Hyun-kee Lee (李賢基, 이현기)
Hyun-kee Lee (이현기, 李賢基, born November 6, 1925) is a proud Korean who settled in Seattle through studying in the U.S. around the Korean War and contributed to the development of Korean-American society. On February 11, 1925, he was born to Hak-bong Lee(李學奉), Cheon-geel Lee (李天吉) in Saam-ri, Misu-myeon, Singye-gun, Hwanghae province, Republic of Korea, as the eldest son of three sons and three daughters. He went to a village school 'seo-dang' to learn Chinese. As the 'seo-dang' was crushed because of Japanese colonialization he went to a simple school for 2 years and a regular elementary school for four years to learn Japanese. At the age of 16, he came down to Seoul after arranged marriage with his wife, Hwa-nyeo Lee (李花女). Thanks to learning English while attending Han-young Middle School at night, he got a job as a cleaner at the U.S. military unit in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul. Since then, he has graduated from Yeong-chang Middle and High School (currently Seong-dong High School) (first graduate of Seong-dong High School) while working as an officer club bartender and an officer's houseboy. After graduation, he worked in the U.S. Embassy's telecommunications department and went on to study in the U.S. on November 6, 1955, leaving his wife and two sons behind. He majored in engineering at Washington State University and Seattle University, and worked at King County and Seattle City Hall after graduation. Since then, he has obtained permanent residency and invited his wife and two sons to the United States and reunited for the first time in 10 years. He contributed to the development of the Korean Association in Northwest America by serving as chairman of the Seattle Korean Association (the fourth, fifth), chairman of the Seattle branch of the National Unification Advisory Council(1983), and chairman of the Northwest American Council (1996). In October 1989, Seattle City and Daejeon City played a leading role in forming a sisterhood relationship, and in 1996, in cooperation with Daejeon Metropolitan City, an octagonal pavilion (named Daejeon Pavilion) was built in Beacon, Seattle. He was selected as an honorary citizen of Daejeon Metropolitan City in 2014, and in August 2019, he received the Order of Civil Merit, Camellia Medal from the Korean government for his contribution to the mainstream American society and Korean society. He has two sons and grandchildren, and he recently heard that his younger sister (87) and younger brother (77) are alive in North Korea.Leobroun (talk) 01:46, 25 September 2021 (UTC)