last see-off
Interview with Kim Jong-deok, director of the funeral home of Handok Hospital
[아시아경제 특별취재팀=고형광 팀장, 유병돈 기자, 정동훈 기자, 이정윤 기자] “The body of the unrelated deceased is decomposed and smells so bad. In some cases, the shape is not recognizable. If you think that you are making money to pay for the funeral of the deceased, you can’t even touch the body.”
I was in charge of research at the company I worked for for 17 years, and after quitting, I entered the funeral industry, which I was interested in. I joined a funeral home in Anyang, Gyeonggi Province 20 years ago, and became the secretary after six months. And just like that, Kim Jong-deok, director of the funeral home of Handok Hospital, began to face unrelated deaths like fate.
The first unrelated fatalities I encountered were those who died while sleeping on the street. The degree of damage to the body was not severe, but as I was living alone without my family, my clothes and body smelled. Director Kim said, “I thought it was disgusting, and I didn’t want to remember it.” In the case of the dead body of an unrelated deceased, which is severely damaged, the body is processed without a proper example. He said, “It’s really unfortunate that I was put in a coffin without salinating, and it’s a shame. How regretful.”
He was moved by the situation where the body of an unrelated deceased was cremated without a single family touch. But the experience of persuading the family to give up taking over the body three years ago is still vivid. The deceased, unrelated, was a man in his 80s, and his long-lost family refused to take over the body. The youngest daughter of the deceased wanted to sign a waiver of the takeover. However, he persuaded that if he gave up the takeover, he would be classified as unrelated and that the ashes could not be returned to the family after cremation. We guided them to receive support for cremation expenses from the local government, and in the end, the youngest daughter was able to protect her father’s last. It is said that texts or KakaoTalk messages to express gratitude come when it is time for a holiday or ancestral rite.
However, it is rare to find an unrelated corpse in search of a family like this. Most of them either lose contact with their families or refuse to accept the body. But getting a renunciation signature is not easy. Director Kim explained, “I went all the way to Busan and Incheon to get autographs.” “They don’t open the door or they say, ‘I don’t know such a person,’ but I have a debt to the deceased, so I do this because I don’t want to take over or get entangled.”
He also changes his attitude when he hears that the deceased has property left while refusing to take over. An unrelated person who lived by collecting scrap metal died and went to visit the brothers, but the answer came, saying, ‘I will live without contact for a long time and will not take over.’ However, when he heard that there was more than 30 million won in deposits in the bankbook of the deceased and even a deposit for jeonse, he took over the body and held a funeral. Director Kim said bitterly, “Even if you die, you have to have money to meet the perfect end.”
He is feeling rewarded when Suwon, Gyeonggi Province, has introduced a public funeral system, which has only dealt with the bodies of unrelated dead. “As long as health permits, I will remain at the funeral home to take care of the last of the unrelated dead,” he said.
※This article was produced with support from the Korea Press Foundation’s government advertising fee.
Reporter Koh Hyeong-gwang kohk0101@asiae.co.kr
By Yoo Byung-don, staff reporter tamond@asiae.co.kr
By Jung Dong-hoon, staff reporter hoon2@asiae.co.kr
By Lee Jung-yoon, staff reporter leejuyoo@asiae.co.kr
.
