Last Commute to Seoul City Hall... Farewell Ceremony for Late Mayor Park Won-soon Amid Rain Showers

On the 13th, the hearse carrying the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's body is moving from the funeral hall at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to Seoul City Hall. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] The funeral ceremony for the late Park Won-soon, former Mayor of Seoul, who passed away on the 10th, was solemnly held on the 13th.

At around 7:20 a.m. that day, after the funeral ceremony concluded, Mayor Park’s hearse departed from the Seoul National University Hospital funeral hall and headed to Seoul City Hall, where the memorial service was to be held.

The funeral ceremony was conducted with the press barred from access. Despite the rainy and gloomy weather, mourners who wished to see the funeral procession visited the site from early morning. The ceremony proceeded in a solemn atmosphere with a relatively composed demeanor. Occasionally, family members, politicians, and acquaintances following the hearse were seen quietly wiping away tears.

Mayor Park’s memorial service was held online from 8:30 a.m. at the multipurpose hall on the 8th floor of Seoul City Hall.

Only a limited number of about 100 people attended the on-site memorial service, including family members, funeral committee chairpersons, provincial governors, Democratic Party leadership, Seoul city officials, and representatives of civil society. The funeral committee planned to broadcast the entire memorial service live on the Seoul City YouTube channel and the tbs Traffic Broadcasting YouTube channel.

The memorial service began with the opening declaration, followed by the national flag salute, a moment of silence for the deceased, a memorial video screening, a memorial song performance, speeches by the three co-chairpersons of the funeral committee, floral tributes, and concluded with a greeting from the family representative.

On the 13th, the hearse carrying the late Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon's body is moving from the funeral hall at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno-gu, Seoul, to Seoul City Hall. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

After the memorial service, the funeral committee announced that Mayor Park’s body would be cremated at the Seoul Memorial Park and then moved to his ancestral burial site in Changnyeong, Gyeongnam for interment.

The funeral committee’s co-chairpersons were Baek Nak-cheong, Professor Emeritus at Seoul National University, Lee Hae-chan, leader of the Democratic Party, and Seo Jeong-hyeop, Acting Mayor of Seoul. The vice-chairpersons included Kim Tae-nyeon, floor leader of the Democratic Party, Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party, Kwon Young-jin, chairman of the Jeonbuk Provincial Governors Association, Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, and Kim In-ho, chairman of the Seoul Metropolitan Council.

The advisory group consisted of seven members, including Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun, former National Assembly Speakers Kim Won-ki, Im Chae-jung, Moon Hee-sang, and former Board of Audit and Inspection Chairman Han Seung-heon. The standing executive committee chairman was Ahn Kyu-baek, chairman of the Democratic Party’s Seoul branch, and the co-executive committee chairs were Lee Dong-jin, chairman of the Seoul City and District Mayors Association; Ha Seung-chan, former senior social innovation officer at the Social University; and Park Hong-geun, Democratic Party lawmaker.

As of the previous day, approximately 8,500 people paid their respects at the Seoul National University Hospital funeral hall, and about 20,380 visited the altar in front of Seoul City Hall. The online altar operated by Seoul City surpassed one million floral tributes.

Earlier, Mayor Park was reported missing at around 5:17 p.m. on the 9th. After a search by police and fire authorities, he was found deceased at 12:01 a.m. on the 10th in the mountains near the fortress wall trail of Bukaksan in Seoul. It was reported that the circumstances suggested an apparent suicide.