Vietnamese grandfather pleads for recoveries from the Sewol

Posted on : 2014-05-26 16:31 KST Modified on : 2014-05-26 16:31 KST
Panmancai’s daughter’s body was recovered from the Sewol; more than a month later, his grandson and son-in-law are still missing
 Panmancai
Panmancai

By Kim Il-woo, staff reporter

A Vietnamese man who lost his daughter in the Sewol ferry tragedy was holding a hand-written board to find his also lost son-in-law and grandson.

On May 25 at 2 pm, Panmancai, 62, and his other daughter, Panrokhan, 24, were holding signs near the government memorial at Hwarang Park in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province. His sign said, ‘Please find my son-in-law, Kwon Jae-geun, and my grandson, Hyuk-gyu. They might still be under the cold sea. I’m from Vietnam.’ He referred to finding his son-in-law, Kwon Jae-geun, 51, and grandson, Hyuk-gyu, 6.

His daughter, Han Yun-ji (her Korean name), 29, was married to Kwon Jae-geun. She boarded the Sewol ferry with her husband, son, and daughter on Apr. 15. The family was on their way to Jeju Island to start an orange farm after packing up their life in Seoul.

Ji-yeon was the family’s only survivor from the next day’s tragedy. Han Yun-ji was found dead on Apr. 23 and her husband and son have not yet been recovered.

Panmancai has kept his daughter’s body but has not held a funeral for her. This is because he wants to do the funeral together with the bodies of his son-in-law and grandson once they are finally found. He said, “It has been more than a month and I still haven’t been able to hold the funeral. Please find my son-in-law and grandson as soon as possible so that I can hold their funerals together with my daughter.”

 a father of a Vietnamese daughter
a father of a Vietnamese daughter

 

Translated by Lee Dong-ju, Hankyoreh English intern

 

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]

 

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