By Gim Yeongin
This morning the Seoul funeral home containing deceased former Prime Minister Gim Jongpil was crowded with mourners. Gim passed away at the age of 92 in hospital in Asan [in South Chungcheong Province, just south of the Seoul metropolitan area] at 0815 this morning amongst his family, and his departure has elicited messages of condolences from people of all walks of life. The mourning arrangements are set to be open to visitors for five days, until Wednesday next week.
Reporter: It’s now been around three hours since mourners began to file in to pay their respects to former Prime Minister Gim Jongpil. People from the worlds of politics and commerce have been arriving to express their condolences. The empty room [room where the people pay respects] has been prepared inside to the right side of the entrance. A photo of former Prime Minister Gim in his prime, dressed in a suit and smiling broadly, is mounted amongst a display of Rose-of-Sharon, Korea’s national flower. Legislator Mun Huisang from the People’s Democracy Party and Yu Seungmin from the Just Future Party, MP Bak Juseon, Korean Party member Jang Utaek and Jeong Mongjun from the Asan Foundation are among the public figures paying their respects. In a short while Chu Miae of the People’s Democracy Party and Gim Seongtae, acting President of the Korean Party, are expected to arrive. Korean President Mun Jaein, current Prime Minister Ee Nakyeon, former Defence Minister Jeong Segyun and others have called to express their regret at Mr Gim’s passing. Their messages passed on their condolences, saying that Mr Gim “had been a giant amongst Korean politics.”
The mourning arrangements are being conducted by former Prime Minister Ee Handong and former Speaker of the National Assembly Gang Changhee. The funeral is being held for 5 days, according to the deceased’s wishes. Once it is concluded the funeral procession will make its way to former Prime Minister Gim’s home.
In 2008 former Prime Minister Gim suffered a cerebral infarction. Since this month his condition had deteriorated due to old age, leading to his admission to hospital.
Analysis: this article illustrates the quite public nature of mourning in Korea – particularly when nationally-known figures pass on. People wishing to pay their condolences typically have quite a long window during which to do so; it’s an important part of the social process for a family to publically receive other mourners, and there’s also significant pressure on a grieving family to adhere to mourning conventions. The accompanying video also amply demonstrates that white is the colour of mourning in Korea. Gim Jongpil was a key figure in Bak Jeonghee’s dictatorship (1961-1979), having participated in the coup which brought Bak to power. Gim founded the notorious Korean Central Intelligence Agency, and continued playing a key role in Korean politics during the post-dictatorship phase, entering into coalition with Gim Daejung’s NCNP in the late 1990s with his United Liberal Democrats as a junior partner.