hankyoreh

A memorial altar for the three family members who died when their semi-basement dwelling in Gwanak District flooded during torrential rain last week was set up at the Yeouido St. Mary’s Funeral Hall on Aug. 10. (Yonhap News)

A private citizen has promised long-term donations to the bereaved family of two sisters who, along with one sister’s daughter, died unexpectedly after torrential downpours flooded their semi-basement apartment in the Gwanak District of Seoul.

On Sunday, 47-year-old Howard Yoo, who owns a private English academy located in the Daechi neighborhood of Seoul’s Gangnam District, met with the 73-year-old mother of the duty-free store employee surnamed Hong who died in her semi-basement apartment with her daughter and sister during last week’s rainstorm, promising to send her 300,000 won (US$230) in donations every month, according to Yoo.

Hong’s mother was recently diagnosed with cancer and is currently hospitalized.

“After much difficulty, I met [Hong’s mother] during the long weekend and offered her my condolences as well as expressed my wish to give,” Yoo said in an interview with the Hankyoreh. “At first, she repeatedly refused, saying she didn’t want any help, but after my earnest pleas, she ultimately decided to accept my donations.”

Yoo said he decided to donate after reading the Hankyoreh article which contained messages of remembrance left by Hong’s coworkers. “The deceased dedicated efforts to building a better society even as she supported her family in a semi-basement apartment, and the fact that this admirable individual passed away without having seen the light due to the failures of Korean society motivated me to give,” he stated.

After a foray into business in the US, Yoo shut up shop and returned to Korea following the 2008 financial crisis. At first, he worked as an instructor at English academies until he opened his own academy in 2016.

Yoo said he lived in a semi-basement apartment in the Daechi neighborhood when he first came back to Korea. During the summer of 2010 and 2011, when heavy rains flooded the Gangnam area, Yoo also experienced flooding in his apartment.

“I wanted to do something for people living in semi-basement apartments once my circumstances got better, but I got so busy going about my life that I never got around to it, until now,” he said.

This is not the first time Yoo is donating to those facing hardships. In February 2020, when the COVID-19 pandemic was still in its early days, Yoo donated 10 million won (US$7,634) to the city of Daegu via the Korean Red Cross. In 2019, he donated 15 million won to victims of the earthquake in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province. Scholarships he has donated to students in financial need reportedly amount to tens of millions of won.

Yoo originally wanted to give Hong’s mother 10 million won in one installment, but in the end, he decided to visit Hong’s mother and personally hand her 300,000 won every month.

“I tried to come up with the best way to help the bereaved. I asked elders I know for advice, and they told me to visit Hong’s mother every month if I really wanted to help. Thankfully, she said yes, so I now have a reason to work harder,” he added.

By Choi Min-young, staff reporter

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