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Chul Ho Lee

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Chul Ho Lee
이철호
Lee in 2010
Born(1937-02-23)23 February 1937
Died16 February 2018(2018-02-16) (aged 80)
Oslo, Norway
Occupation(s)Chef, entrepreneur
Known forMr. Lee instant noodle brand
AwardsKing's Medal of Merit

Chul Ho Lee (Korean이철호; RRI Cheolho; 23 February 1937 – 16 February 2018[1]) was a South Korean entrepreneur and chef who was famous in Norway for producing the Mr. Lee brand of instant noodles; the name of which he was also known by.[2] He was also sometimes nicknamed "Noodle King".[3][4]

Biography

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Lee was born in 1937 in Cheonan, Chūseinan-dō, Korea, Empire of Japan.[5] In 1951, during the 1950–1953 Korean War, Lee became separated from his family while fleeing the war.[5][2] After failing to cross a river, he was rescued by some American soldiers. He spoke some English and served as an interpreter for them; he reportedly was dubbed "Archie" by the soldiers, after titular character in Archie Comics.[2] He reportedly worked as a houseboy on military bases, performing tasks for the soldiers.[6] Later, he was severely injured in a grenade attack and ended up in a Norwegian field hospital (NORMASH). Doctors there arranged for him to be evacuated from Korea and treated in Norway.[5][2] He had a long recovery period in the Sunnaas rehabilitation center in Nesodden. He then acquired permanent residency status in Norway.[2]

In Norway, Lee was young, poor, and alone. He worked as a paper boy[5] and shoe shiner and emptied outdoor toilets.[2] He was reportedly often hungry, and even ate pig feed.[6] He eventually began attending secondary school and became a professional cook. He received some training in Switzerland. He worked in a number of restaurants, and eventually became a top executive of the Møllhausen restaurant chain in Oslo. He was laid off in 1989, when the chain was acquired by a competitor. He began working in the mutual trade of products between Norway and South Korea. He traded Korean ginseng products and also turned towards bringing instant cup noodles to Norway.[2] His noodles reportedly went on to, at some point, have around 80% of the local instant noodle market.[3]

The cup noodles he brought to Norway were branded as Mr. Lee. Lee embarked on an advertising campaign for the noodles, during which he appeared on TV a number of times in the 1990s. This reportedly turned him into a local celebrity.[2] In 2004, he received the King's Medal of Merit from Norway's King Harald V for his work with war veterans.[5][7]

Lee was active in the South Korean expatriate community in Norway, and a member of the Norwegian Korean War veterans' association, where he was affectionately called "Archie". He supported a number of charities and spoke at universities before his death.[2]

He died on 16 February 2018 in Oslo,[1][8] after a having lived with Parkinson's disease for a number of years.[7]

Personal life

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His German-born wife Anneliese died of cancer in 1984. He had three daughters with her, Anja (reportedly a doctor by 2018), Sonja (a chef), and Irina (a journalist). Lee remarried a Korean woman named Hae Jong afterwards.[2]

He wrote a book entitled Be Happy (2001), and his daughter wrote a biography of him called Det Sa Min Far (2010).[5]

References

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  1. ^ a b Gundersen, Nils (2024-06-26), "Chul Ho Lee", Store norske leksikon (in Norwegian), retrieved 2024-08-15
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j "'Mr Lee' leaves a legacy in Norway". Norway's News in English. 2018-03-06. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  3. ^ a b Yoon, Won-sup (2007-05-13). "'Noodle King' to Make Little Norway in Incheon". The Korea Times. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  4. ^ "노르웨이 라면왕 '미스터리' 이철호 씨, 고등학교 교과서에도 실려" (in Korean). Busan Ilbo. Retrieved 2024-08-15 – via Naver News.
  5. ^ a b c d e f Solheim, Emma (2020-11-20). "Mr. Lee – The first famous Korean in Norway". Embassy of the Republic of Korea to Norway. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  6. ^ a b Chun, Su-jin (2008-03-09). "Ramen legend wants to create a 'Little Norway'". Korea JoongAng Daily. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  7. ^ a b Garza, Victoria (2018-02-17). "Noodle King 'Mr. Lee' has died". Norway Today. Retrieved 2024-08-15.
  8. ^ NRK (2018-02-16). "Mr. Lee er død". NRK (in Norwegian Bokmål). Retrieved 2024-08-15.