Five-day funeral for Park sparks dispute on social media

The sudden death of Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon has been not only shocking, but also controversial in many aspects. One particularly thorny issue has turned out to involve the planned funeral schedule.

Expressing condolences over Park’s passing, the Seoul city administration announced Friday that it would hold a five-day mayoral funeral open to the public in accordance with the official guidelines specified in state protocols.

The plan immediately touched off a wave of angry comments on social media. Those who oppose the five-day funeral plan for Park have said it poses increased risk of cluster infections of COVID-19, as many people from different places visit the site to pay respects.

Moreover, holding a large-scale funeral ignores the country’s official guidelines regarding the coronavirus, under which people in Korea are urged to refrain from attending gatherings, including religious services, they said.

Some online users said that further investigations into Park’s alleged sexual misconduct should come first, collecting online signatures to file a petition. Others argued it would be inappropriate for the government to spend taxpayer money for Park’s death, which is presumed to be a suicide.

By Lee Sae-byul (nstelle@heraldcorp.com)