Acting Chief Choi Visits Late Kim Haneul's Funeral Home... "Heartbreaking"

Prime Minister and Acting President Choi Sang-mok, who is also the Minister of Economy and Finance, visited the funeral hall set up in Seo-gu, Daejeon, on the afternoon of the 12th to pay his respects at the funeral of the late Kim Ha-neul, a victim of the Daejeon murder.

Acting President and Deputy Prime Minister Choi Sang-mok, who is also the Minister of Economy and Finance, paid his respects at the funeral of Kim Ha-neul, a young girl who was stabbed to death by a teacher at an elementary school in Daejeon on the 12th.

According to the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the 12th, Acting President Choi arrived at the funeral hall set up for Kim Ha-neul at Daejeon Konyang University Hospital at around 1:16 p.m. and offered his condolences. He bowed his head in silent prayer toward Kim’s portrait and expressed his sympathy to the bereaved family.

A ministry official stated, "Acting President Choi heard detailed reports and news about Ha-neul this morning and felt deeply saddened." The official added, "Especially after hearing that Ha-neul’s parents, despite their painful loss, publicly revealed their child’s name and face to urge society to take measures to prevent such incidents from happening again, he decided to pay his respects."

The day before, while presiding over a Cabinet meeting, Acting President Choi instructed related agencies, saying, "The Ministry of Education and relevant organizations must thoroughly investigate this incident and prepare necessary measures to ensure that such an event never occurs again." He continued, "Schools should be the safest places, so this incident is even more tragic and heartbreaking," and urged, "With the new school term approaching, please inspect to ensure that our students can live in a safe environment."

Earlier, at around 6 p.m. on the 10th, a man in his 40s, a teacher at an elementary school in Seo-gu, Daejeon, stabbed and killed an 8-year-old girl with a weapon.