The funeral procession for Samsung Chairman Lee Kun-hee was held on the morning of the 28th at the Samsung Medical Center Funeral Hall in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, with family members and officials carrying the portrait of the deceased. [Image source=Yonhap News]
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] Lee Yong-seop, mayor of Gwangju City, is facing backlash for posting photos of the late Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung, lying in state on his SNS. Earlier, the bereaved family decided to hold a private family funeral for Chairman Lee and did not disclose the lying-in-state scenes. After continuous criticism from netizens, Mayor Lee eventually deleted the photos.
On the 27th, Mayor Lee posted an article titled "Life is a Traveler's Path" on his Facebook and blog. In the post, he said, "I took time out of my busy schedule to pay my respects to the late Chairman Lee Kun-hee and am now on my way back to Gwangju. Although I had no personal connection with the deceased, I wanted to show my final respects as the mayor of Gwangju," he began.
He continued, "The deceased laid the cornerstone of the home appliance industry in our Gwangju, where the industrial base was weak," adding, "The Samsung Electronics Gwangju Plant, established in 1989, now has up to three factories including those in Hanam and Cheomdan, with annual sales reaching around 5 trillion won, accounting for 17% of Gwangju's total manufacturing output. There are about 3,000 citizens working here."
Mayor Lee also stated, "It cannot be denied that the deceased's innovative management contributed significantly to South Korea's leap into the world's top 10 economies," and added, "No one lives a perfect life. At this moment of seeing off the deceased, it seems right to engrave the merits rather than faults in our hearts. I sincerely wish him eternal rest," concluding his message.
Along with the post, Mayor Lee shared a photo of himself paying respects. Earlier, the bereaved family decided to hold a private family funeral and did not disclose the lying-in-state scenes. Media outlets also respected the family's wishes and did not include photos of the lying-in-state in their reports.
Subsequently, the photos of the lying-in-state that Mayor Lee disclosed rapidly spread across online communities and SNS. Netizens criticized the mayor, saying it was "disrespectful to the deceased and the bereaved family."
Some netizens directly visited the mayor's blog and left comments such as, "If you respected the deceased enough to pay respects, shouldn't you also respect the family's position?", "It was a private family funeral and even the press corps was not allowed to see it, so why did you disclose it?", and "Don't you understand the meaning of privacy?"
Meanwhile, amid the controversy, Mayor Lee deleted the photos of the lying-in-state and left only a memorial post.
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