![Former MBC announcer Im Guk-hee [Newsis]](https://wimg.heraldcorp.com/news/cms/2026/06/04/news-p.v1.20260604.2c14eeddebce47e19f237b86ec519552_P1.jpg)
Im Guk-hee, a former MBC announcer who was one of South Korea's most beloved radio personalities in the 1960s and 1970s, has died at 88.
The Korea Announcers Club said Im died on Tuesday, according to Yonhap News Agency.
Born in 1938, Im began her broadcasting career at KBS in 1961 before moving to MBC in 1964.
She built a loyal following as the DJ of radio programs including "Midnight Music Letter" and "Women's Salon — It's Im Guk-hee."
When Im appeared on a special program marking MBC Radio's 50th anniversary in 2011, the broadcaster introduced her as the pioneer of late-night female DJ programming.
The long-running program "Women's Era," still on air today, traces its origins to Im's "11 O'Clock Music of Hope," which first broadcast in April 1957.
That program was renamed "Im Guk-hee's Music Salon" in October of the same year. In April 1988, DJ Lee Jong-hwan took over and relaunched it as "Women's Era," which has continued to the present day.
Im served as a board member of the Korea Broadcasting Culture Promotion Association from 2003 to 2006, and as the eighth president of the Korea Announcers Club from 2015 to 2019.
In 2014, she received MBC's "Golden Mouse" award, given to hosts who have contributed more than 20 years to the network's radio programming.
She is survived by a daughter and a son.
A memorial altar has been set up at funeral hall No. 9 of Samsung Medical Center and will move to hall No. 17 at 10:30 a.m. Thursday. The funeral procession departs at 6:30 a.m. Saturday, with burial at Yongmiri Natural Burial Ground.
husn7@heraldcorp.com
