South Koreans Hold Funerals for the Living Humans in Order to Improve Their Lives

In South Korea a different kind of trend is grabbing the eyeballs of many and it is a special service, which is offering free funerals, not to the dead but only to the living.

Recently a mass funeral service for the living has been organised by Hyowon Healing Center where so far more than 25,000 people have participated. The organisation was started in the year 2012, with the hope to improve the lives of people, making them experience their own deaths.

75-year-old Cho Jae-hee, who participated in the living funeral as part of the ‘dying well’ programme said, “Once you become conscious of death and experience it, you undertake a new approach to life”.

In the mass funeral program, people from all walks of life with different age groups participated, from teenagers to retired, who joined the program taking their funeral portraits, penning their last declarations and then lying in a closed coffin for 10 minutes.

Choi Jin-kyu, a University student, who participated in the program said when he was inside the coffin, he realised that nothing on earth is important as he viewed others as competitors so far. 

The 28-year-old student said, “When I was in the coffin, I wondered what use that is”, adding that now he plans to start his own business after completing his education, rather than attempting to enter a highly-competitive job market.

Jeong Yong-mun, who heads the healing centre said, “Funeral organisation Hyowon started offering the living funerals to help people appreciate their lives, and seek forgiveness and reconciliation with family and friends”. 

Jeong said he was inspired to conduct such funerals when he saw people reconcile at the death of a relative, he says “That is why I think this experience is so important - we can apologise and reconcile sooner and live the rest of our lives happily”.

South Korea ranks 33 out of 40 countries of the world, as surveyed in the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development’s Better Life Index. As many youths in South Korea have high hopes for education and employment, the dream shatters because of the weak economy and rising unemployment.

Professor Yu Eun-sil, a doctor at Asan Medical Center’s says, “It is important to learn and prepare for death even at a young age”. Eun-sil has also written a book on death.

According to a survey by the World Health Organization in 2016, the suicide rate in South Korea was 20.2 per 100,000 residents, which is almost double the global average of 10.53.

Lastly, the message of the University student Choi is of immense significance when he says, “I want to let people know that they matter most and that someone else would be so sad if they were gone,” Choi also said wiping away his tears. “Happiness is in the present”.