Late Son Jeongmin's Father: "I'm Not Ready to Say Goodbye Yet..."

Photo by Son Hyun, father of the late Son Jeong-min, blog screen capture.

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 16th, Son Hyun (50), the father of the late Son Jeongmin (22), who went missing and was found dead at Banpo Hangang Park in Seoul, once again expressed his longing for his son.

On that day, Son posted a blog entry titled 'gooodbye_min' and shared Jeongmin's Instagram address.

He said, "I wanted to see Jeongmin's Instagram, but after the police forensic examination, I was logged out and couldn't access it," adding, "I tried hard to visit goodbye_min, but only unrelated things came up, so I gave up. Later, I realized there was one more 'o'." 'gooodbye_min' is Jeongmin's Instagram account.

He continued, "Jeongmin, I'm not ready to say goodbye to you... Saying goodbye is so hard," expressing his longing.

Son also shared, "I visited the (memorial) park last weekend. When we eventually go, Jeongmin should have prepared it, but since he prepared it first, it seems like no one will take care of us later, so I reserved a place at the same spot as Jeongmin," revealing, "No matter what happens, we now have a place to go, and since it's the same space as Jeongmin, I feel at ease."

Seoul Banpo Hangang Park memorial site for the late Son Jeong-min.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, Son introduced some of the memorial messages left by Jeongmin's friends on Instagram.

The friends left final messages such as, "We will never forget the time we spent together and your existence. Please rest comfortably there. Love you, my friend," "Let's be close friends again in the next life. Love you. Shine brightly there too," and "I miss you, Jeongmin. Our memories with you are so clear and well remembered, but you are not here."

Earlier, on the 9th, Son had also shared KakaoTalk messenger conversations he had with his son during his lifetime, expressing his longing for him.

Through his blog, he said, "We didn't talk that often on messenger," and lamented, "If I had known, I would have messaged every day."

The conversations Son shared included Jeongmin asking what kind of bread to buy at a famous bakery during a trip, Son comforting Jeongmin when he was upset about taking a leave of absence from medical school last year, and birthday wishes Son sent to Jeongmin. Notably, there was also a conversation where Son advised Jeongmin, "When you have kids later, travel a lot and take many photos."