Ku became the Republic of China's representative to the Netherlands in 1997. After three years as a diplomat, Ku was recalled and expected to retire. However, Ku was named to the
People First Party proportional representation ballot in 2001. For accepting the nomination, he was expelled from the
Kuomintang. He was strongly opposed to a 2002 proposal to acquire
Kidd-class destroyers from the United States, favoring the purchase of Aegis-enabled vessels instead. Ku was critical of a separate plan to buy Standard SM-II missiles for over NT$40 million each. In 2003, Ku published a book about his naval career and joined the Friends of the PFP. The next year, two members of the United States House of Representatives proposed that Taiwan send the
Republic of China Marine Corps to engage in the
Iraq War, a move Ku believed to be unnecessary. He was involved in another discussion about the cost of arms procurement in October, over a set of special appropriations that cost NT$610.8 billion. Ku was again named a PFP at-large legislative candidate for the 2004 elections, and won. In 2005, he voted against an arms procurement bill that sought to fund a $480 billion purchase of eight diesel submarines along with missile batteries and military aircraft, berating the government for its dependence on the United States. Ku was hospitalized in November 2006, and died of lymphatic cancer at
Tri-Service General Hospital on 15 January 2007, aged 75. ==References==