Elder Won Yong Ko, an emeritus General Authority Seventy and pioneer of the Church in South Korea, died Monday, Jan. 27, 2025, in Seoul, South Korea. He was 79.
Elder Ko served as a General Authority Seventy from 2005 to 2011. Prior to his call to the Second Quorum of the Seventy in April 2005, he served as an Area Seventy in his homeland and as a counselor in the Asia North Area presidency.
Born Oct. 15, 1945, to Chang Soo and Sang Soon Lee Ko in Busan, South Korea, Elder Ko was first introduced to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a teenager.
As a child he had attended another Christian church. At the time he started meeting with the Latter-day Saint missionaries in high school, “I already basically had faith about God and Jesus Christ,” he related in a Church News interview after his call as a General Authority. “I believed They live.”
When introduced to the Book of Mormon, he felt it could be possible that the Savior could have visited other people in the world. He found the gospel to be logical and easy to understand.
He joined the Church in 1962 when he was 16 years old. At that time in South Korea there were many misconceptions about the Church, but despite persecution, Elder Ko remained stalwart in his testimony and helped to build the Church there.
That time taught him that the Lord honors those who honor Him, Elder Ko said. His membership in the Church helped him as he completed a mandatory three-year military assignment and advanced in his education and career, he said (see Ensign, May 2005).
After earning a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering from Seoul National University, he moved to Busan on a career assignment. He occasionally visited the ward in Seoul, where he had served in the bishopric. Once while visiting, he met a recent convert, Eun Hee Kim Ko.
He asked the bishop about her. The bishop said, “She’s wonderful.”
The two were married on April 1, 1978, in Seoul, South Korea, and were sealed in the Seoul Korea Temple when it was dedicated in 1985. They have two children.
“I really appreciate the support and sacrifice of my family,” Elder Ko said. “Somehow, my wife managed, and she has always supported me. She took care of my children, and they were faithful.”
He worked as the managing director of IBM Korea and eventually worked from a systems engineer to the president and CEO of Hanjin Information Systems and Telecommunications.
Elder Ko served in a variety of capacities through the years, including as a bishopric counselor, high councilor, regional representative and the national director of public affairs.
Just one year after they were married and soon after their first child was born, Elder Ko was called as stake president.
Almost every calling, he “struggled to fill his suits,” he said. “My callings have always been bigger than my capacity. Each calling seems to be a bigger suit than I can fit in. But I have always tried.”
His reliance on the Savior helped sustain him through his callings and challenges. “He didn’t have to, but Jesus Christ lowered Himself to a level that no one else has experienced so He can understand our suffering, challenges and difficulties. He is truly our Savior and Redeemer,” said Elder Ko.
Funeral services are pending.
