Yul J Rhee

Sacramento – Yul Rhee passed away peacefully at his Sacramento, CA home on March 4, 2025 at nearly 95 years old. Born in colonial Korea to a high-ranking government official and his wife in 1930, Mr. Rhee travelled throughout the country, usually on horseback, and attended 7 (or 8) different schools by the time he was a teenager.

He worked for The Equitable Life Assurance Society and its succeeding company AXA-Equitable in Manhattan for 40 years, leading many joint investment ventures between Equitable (and AXA) and Japanese insurance companies, including Meiji Life.

Mr. Rhee could trace his lineage in Korea back 20 generations to King Taejong (early 1400’s), younger brother of the great king Saejong Daewang, inventor of the Korean alphabet.

When he was a second-year law school student, in 1950, at Seoul National University, the Korean War broke out and he and his family fled before the North Korean invading troops reached the city.

In lieu of military service during the war, Yul started to work at the National Police Headquarters. In August 1950, a group of American officers from the 201 Counter Intelligence Corps (CIC) Detachment, US Army 1st Corps visited the police headquarters and asked for assistance in organizing the Korean contingent of counter-intelligence operations. Yul became associated with the 201 CIC Detachment and stayed with them as the head of the Korean Investigation Unit throughout the Korean War. As part of their operations, they advanced all the way to Pyongyang and Shinanju and scouted as far as Sunchon, all of which are now part of North Korea.

In 1954, when hostilities ceased in Korea, he emigrated to the United States by ship to study and earn degrees from Ohio University (BA), being the first Korean to attend OU, and University of Kentucky (MA).

As an avid horseman since childhood, he often claimed that he learned to ride a horse before he learned to walk. He taught horseback riding in the summers of his college years at the Eastover Resort in Lenox, MA and briefly considered becoming a jockey.

At Ohio University, he worked as a waiter in the cafeteria and his gregarious personality attracted the interest of another co-ed, his future wife, Joan of Fairport Harbor, OH, who would herd her friends to make certain that they sat at a table that he was waiting on.

He returned to Korea with Joan and they married in 1960 at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul. While they lived there for close to 2 years, the reality was that employment opportunities were scarce in a country recently decimated by 3 years of war.

In 1961, they returned to the U.S. to find work in New York. Yul joined Equitable starting in 1961 and, in 2001, he retired as Vice President-Senior Advisor to the CEO and directors of AXA-Japan and AXA-Korea. His mentor at Equitable was Mr. Coy Eklund, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, and he developed many lifelong friendships there, including with Mr. Frank Behm of Delaware.

Yul was fluent in three languages: Korean, Japanese and English. In college, he studied three additional languages, German, Chinese and written Arabic - each with their own alphabet.

A resident of Sacramento since November 2001, Yul is survived by his beloved wife, Joan. In addition to his cherished friendships through the years, Yul delighted in reading the New York Times, following current events/news/politics and emailing friends and relatives around the world. He enjoyed time with his children and grandchildren and was a devoted husband, father, Police Boys Club championship winning soccer coach, and grandfather. He will be missed dearly by his family and friends.

Yul is survived by son Phillip Rhee (Kathleen) of Brisbane, Australia, and their children Mikko and Eeva; daughter Laila Rhee of Sacramento, CA, and her children Zoe and Zachary. He is also survived by three of his sisters (Kunja, Seungja and Hae Jong), their respective families and numerous nieces and nephews; one of his sisters and his two brothers preceded him in death.

His remembrance will take place on Sunday, March 9 at 9 am at the Harry Nauman Funeral Home at 4041 Freeport Blvd, Sacramento, also to be webcast, coffee, tea and light pastries will follow the service.