SangKoo Yun, a consummate Rotary leader and businessman who had been selected to be Rotary International's president for 2026-27, died on 5 September, after months of treatment for pancreatic cancer. A member of the Rotary Club of Sae Hanyang, Seoul, Korea, Yun resigned as president-elect in August to focus on his medical treatment.

"SangKoo's passing is a great loss to the global Rotary family," says RI President Francesco Arezzo. "Yun's vision and contributions to Rotary will continue to inspire and motivate me and others. His legacy lives on in the hearts of Rotary friends and those whose lives were touched by his dedication to Rotary service."

Yun grew up in Seoul, Korea. His father, a prominent political activist, served as the country's president in the early 1960s. Instead of following his father into politics, Yun traveled to the United States after secondary school to pursue his interest in architecture. He received his bachelor's and master's degrees in architecture from Syracuse University.

Yun returned to Korea in the late 1980s and founded Dongsuh Corp., which engineers and markets architectural materials. The business flourished during the construction boom before the 1988 Olympic Games in Seoul. He later started the Youngan Corp., a real estate and investment venture.

“He was a humble servant with honesty and fairness at his core, and a leader who always led through action,” says Past RI President Dong Kurn (DK) Lee, who, for the past 38 years, worked in the same Rotary district as Yun. “We were close like brothers, and it is difficult to bear this grief. Every step he took opened new paths, and every seed he planted has grown into a tree of hope. We will never forget him.”

Yun joined Rotary in 1987, when he helped charter the Rotary Club of Sae Hanyang. He saw the organization as a professional networking hub to help him become more involved in the community. From the beginning, he worked to promote Rotary Youth Exchange and served on his scholarship committee. These interests evolved into a lifelong passion for service, especially international service.

Yun served for eight years as co-chair of the Keep Mongolia Green Project. The initiative planted windbreak forests in the Gobi Desert to alleviate dust storms, which frequently affected nearby regions of Mongolia, China, and Korea. The project eventually expanded to include strategic orchard plantings in Karakorum, which is now Mongolia's largest green zone. Its success helped inspire the Mongolian government to take further action to counter desertification. Yun received a Friendship Medal from the president of Mongolia for spearheading the innovative project.

"No one thought trees could grow in the desert, but we succeeded," said Yun, who traveled to Mongolia 33 times.

For decades, Yun traveled the world to visit the more than 30 Rotary Foundation grant initiatives he either led or helped organize. They have been carried out in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America.

Yun was recognized by Queen Elizabeth II as an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire. The president and prime minister of Korea presented him with an award for distinguished services. He was a trustee of the Yun Posun Memorial Foundation, chair of the Seoul Spring Festival of Chamber Music, and a director of the United Nations Association of the Republic of Korea.

Yun served Rotary as a director and trustee as well as the chair of numerous committees. Together with his spouse, Eunsun Yang Yun, he was a Rotary Foundation Benefactor, a Major Donor, and a member of the Arch Klumph Society, the Paul Harris Society, and the Bequest Society. He also received The Rotary Foundation's Distinguished Service Award.

Yun anticipated that his term as RI president would offer the opportunity to preserve and amplify Rotary's longstanding traditions.

"I do not see myself as a lone leader, but as one link in a strong, unbroken chain — a chain forged by the wisdom and dedication of those who came before me, and held firm by the strength of those who stand beside me today," he said in a recorded address to members attending Rotary's June 2025 convention in Calgary, Canada.

Yun was a veteran of the Korean army, as well as an emeritus elder at Andong Presbyterian Church. He had a deep appreciation for historical architecture and advocated for preserving Korea's cultural heritage. He resided in a hanok, a traditional Korean house, that was built in the 19th century. The hanok bears witness to Korea's contemporary history as well. Yun's father administered state affairs from the house, and it has served as the headquarters for South Korea's pro-democracy movement and a refuge for political activists.

Yun is survived by Eunsun, two adult children, and several grandchildren.