Former Women's Basketball Coach Jeong Joo-hyun Passes Away at 90

Jeong Joo-hyun, the former head coach of the South Korean women's national basketball team, passed away on April 3 at 11:50 AM, at the age of 90. He is remembered for leading the team to a second-place finish at the 1979 FIBA Women's World Championship in Seoul and for securing consecutive gold medals at the Asian Games in 1990 and 1994.

Born in 1935 in Yeoncheon, Gyeonggi Province, Jeong graduated from Gwangshin High School and Kyung Hee University. He began his basketball career with the Air Force team before taking on coaching roles at Cheil Bank and Kolon.

During the 1979 World Championship, Jeong's team made headlines by defeating the United States 94-82, despite the absence of Eastern Bloc countries, ultimately finishing second due to point differential. He later achieved further success by guiding the team to victories at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games and the 1994 Hiroshima Asian Games. Jeong was married to Lee Ok-ja, a former player who later became the head coach of the KDB Life women's basketball team.

In the late 1990s, he took the helm of the Japanese women's basketball team, Chanson Cosmetics, where he coached Ha Eun-joo, the sister of South Korean player Ha Seung-jin. After serving as a general manager and technical advisor for various teams, he became a technical advisor for Aisin, the team his wife led starting in 2014.

He is survived by his wife, Lee Ok-ja, and their two daughters, Jeong Ha-na and Jeong Saet-byul. The funeral service will be held at Gangnam Severance Hospital, with the burial taking place in Yeoncheon County, Baekhak-myeon.