Yung Hoe Ko

Yung Hoe Ko, of Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey, passed away peacefully at home on Sunday, September 20, 2026, surrounded by his loving children and grandchildren. He was born on February 28, 1926, in Haeju, now in North Korea, and moved to Seoul in 1946 during the country’s partition. Yung entered Seoul National University in 1948, but his studies were interrupted by the Korean War, during which he served as a First Lieutenant in the Republic of Korea Army and was wounded in 1950. He returned to Seoul National University and graduated with a B.S. degree in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in 1952. Yung moved to the United States in 1953 to study naval architecture and marine engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he received a Master of Science in 1956 and an Engineering Degree in 1958.

In 1958, Yung began his 42-year career working for Daniel K. Ludwig, starting as a naval architect at National Bulk Carriers, Inc. and ultimately serving as President and CEO of Universe Tankships (Delaware), LLC when he retired in 2000. In the 1960s and 1970s, his innovations in the design of bulk carriers and oil tankers enabled the construction of a new class of supertankers that were the world’s largest ships at that time. As part of Mr. Ludwig’s Jarí Project, Yung designed 30,000-ton paper pulp plants and was responsible for towing the plants built in Japan to the Brazilian Amazon and anchoring them on the banks of the Jarí River. The plants, designed to produce 750 tons of pulp per day, continue to operate today. Yung was a member of the Society of Naval Architects and Marine Engineers and was elected as a member of the American Bureau of Shipping.

Yung credited his life and career success to the help of others, hard work, problem solving, and some luck, having been a refugee from North Korea, a survivor of the Korean War, and an immigrant in the 1950s. Yung’s colleagues remember him for his kindness and humility and as a mentor who created opportunities that changed many lives. He will be missed by his family, who remember his love of fishing, tinkering and fixing things, and gardening, and the pride he felt in his grandchildren, who he encouraged to work hard and overcome adversity through resilience.

Yung was preceded in death by his beloved wife of 56 years, Ohseun Park Ko and is survived by his three children, Albert Icksang Ko (Delphine Broch Ko) of New Haven, Connecticut; Anne Ko Hou (John Hou) of Delray Beach, Florida; and Jane Park Ko (Agustín Melián) of New York, New York, and his seven grandchildren, Tongil Ko, Aline Ko, Minjae Ko, Alexander Hou, Emma Hou, Ana Maria Melián, and Isabel Melián.

In accordance with his wishes, funeral services will be private. Yung respected Mr. Ludwig for his vision and leadership and was grateful for the support given by Mr. Ludwig during his career. As such, in lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research by check payable to LICR Fund, Inc. and sent to Ludwig Group, Inc., Attn: Jennifer Bencivenga, 600 3rd Avenue, 32nd Floor, New York, NY 10016.