hankyoreh

Gyeonggi Province

By Kim Il-woo, Kim Ki-seong and Kim Ji-hoon, staff reporters in Ansan

The 17-year-old girl, surnamed Park, was a second year student in Class 3 at Danwon High School in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, when she lost her life in the Sewol ferry sinking last month. Next to the wooden urn holding her remains is another containing the remains of a 16-year-old boy surnamed Lim. Lim, a member of Class 4, had been a close friend of Park’s.

On the glass covering the urn with Im’s remains, Park’s mother left a note reading, “Our daughter is beside you now. It was wonderful to see how dependable and kind you were. I hope you and her are happy together.”

Just above Park’s urn is another holding the remains of a 16-year-old boy surnamed Hwang, from Class 6. Park’s mother left another note on this urn. “You’re with our daughter now,” it read. “Such a mischievous boy. It feels good when I look at your photograph. I hope you’re all happy together, and I hope we see each other often.”

Around the corner from Park’s urn is a fourth, this one for Jeong Cha-woong, a 16-year-old member of Class 4 who lost his life after rescuing friends from the sinking boat. Park’s mother left a message on this urn, too. “You’re in the same place as her now. It’s great that she can be together with a good person like you. I hope you’re all happy together.”

The four students were in different classes at Danwon High School, but were very close to each other. Now they are together in the No. 101 vault at Seoho Memorial Park in Pyeongtaek’s Cheongbuk township, where victims of the Sewol sinking have been laid to eternal rest. The family members made the decision to put their urns together for fear that they might be lonely separated from their friends.

Another group of seven students, all girls, were enshrined together in the No. 152 vault. They include a 16-year-old girl surnamed Kim and two other students from Class 3, another 16-year-old girl surnamed Kim from Class 1, and a 16-year-old surnamed Park from Class 9. Next to their remains are those of 16-year-old Kim Bitna-ra - the daughter of Kim Byeong-gwon, 50, who chairs the committee for victim family members - and 17-year-old Yu Ye-eun, daughter of class committee spokesperson Yu Gyeong-geun, 47.

“Ye-eun and her friends have all been enshrined together,” Yu wrote in an Apr. 28 Facebook post. “Ye-eun, I hope you have a good time chattering with your friends until it‘s time for your Dad to come to you again.”

In addition to the remains, the students’ urns also contain student ID cards, mobile phones, and family photographs from when they were younger. The glass on the urn for a 16-year-old boy named In at the No. 103 vault has a letter stuck to it reading, “I’m sorry to go back to daily life alone. I’ll never forget you. I‘ll remember you for the rest of my life, and I hope you’re happy too. . . . We’re going to live your life for you. I promise. Make sure you come back as my little brother the next time, too.”

The letter was left by In’s older sister. Other messages from family members were stuck to the glass on other students’ urns, including ones reading “We love you” and “We’re sorry we couldn’t protect you.”

Some fifty Danwon students who died in the disaster have been laid to rest in nine vaults at Seoho Memorial Park. Their remains are to be relocated to another memorial park in Ansan once it is built.

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