Funeral for Seoul mayor Park Won-soon to be streamed online
The official funeral for the mayor of Seoul will be broadcast online this week because of coronavirus concerns over a large gathering, his funeral committee has said.
There has been heated debate over how big a funeral should be arranged for Park Won-soon, who was found dead on Friday as allegations of sexual harassment emerged.
Park Hong-keun, a lawmaker who works for the interim funeral committee, told reporters that a “humble” funeral would be held inside Seoul city hall on Monday morning, in line with anti-virus efforts.
He said about 100 people, including the bereaved family, were expected to attend the funeral, which will be broadcast live on YouTube. He said the funeral would include video featuring the mayor and commemorative speeches.
While the death has caused an outpouring of sympathy, many South Koreans have demanded that authorities investigate the reported allegations against Park, and voiced opposition to a large-scale funeral paid for with taxpayer money.
A petition filed with the presidential office opposing such a funeral had garnered more than 535,000 signatures as of Sunday afternoon. “Holding a quiet, family funeral should be proper,” the petition says.
Seoul officials said Monday’s funeral would be an official event paid for with city funds.
Police said there was no sign of homicide when Park’s body was discovered. They have refused to disclose the exact cause of his death. Seoul officials said on Friday that what they described as Park’s “will” was found at his residence.
Police launched a huge hunt for Park, 64, on Thursday, after his daughter had reported him missing. While the searches were under way, South Korean media reported that one of Park’s secretaries had lodged a complaint with police on Wednesday over alleged sexual harassment.
Police later confirmed that a complaint against Park had been filed but refused to provide further details, including whether the complaint was about sexual behaviour.
Park Hong-keun said that as of 1am on Sunday, around 18,000 people had paid their respects to the mayor at two mourning sites in Seoul, one at a hospital and the other at a plaza near City Hall. About 922,000 people had condoled the mayor’s death at a cityrun online mourning site as of Sunday afternoon.