Hi Duk Lee

Lee was born in 1939 in Korea,^[2] where his parents were farmers.^[3] He studied engineering in Korea and worked in West Germany in 1966–1968.^[3] Lee emigrated to the United States in 1968, settling in Los Angeles, California.^[2][4][5]

Lee developed what came to be known as Koreatown, or "Second Seoul", in Los Angeles.^[5] As early as 1971, he built the Olympic Market, "one of the first Korean-owned groceries in Los Angeles", at Olympic Boulevard and Normandie Avenue.^[4] He subsequently built over 40 grocery stores and restaurants in Korean Village, as well as the VIP Hotel at 3000 West Olympic Boulevard, but he went bankrupt in 1982.^[4]

With his wife Kil Ja, Lee had a son, Roger, and two daughters, Susan and Helen. He died of colon cancer on March 7, 2019, in Silver Lake, at age 79.^[4][5]