A memorial altar is set up near Seoul City Hall, Monday, for victims of the crowd crush in Itaewon, Seoul. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho
Gov't offers foreigners same financial aid as Koreans, but process is taking time
By Lee Hyo-jin
Gulieva Giunai, a Russian student at Kwangwoon University, was devastated when she learned that her friend Kristina was among the 26 foreign nationals killed in the crowd crush in Itaewon on the night of Oct. 29.
Although they were from different cities of Russia, the two had known each other since 2020 when they attended Korean language classes together at a university in North Gyeongsang Province.
Despite her grief over the sudden loss, the 19-year-old knew what she had to do.
"Kristina didn't have any family here. And it would take a few days for her older sister in Russia to arrive in Korea," Giunai said.
Together with her friends, she organized an online fundraiser to hold a funeral for the victim. Giunai had never been to a funeral in her life, let alone arranged one.
"But I know how everything in Korea is pretty much expensive, so I thought we should immediately begin to gather money. Kristina was my friend, so it was my duty to do so. I wanted do everything I can for her."
In just two days, people who knew the victim, as well as those who never knew her, offered a helping hand, contributing over eight million won in total. With the collected money, Kristina's funeral was held on Tuesday at a hospital in Gyeonggi Province.
"We are thankful to everyone who helped us so that Kristina's friends and teachers could come to say goodbye to her. I think she would have been happy to see how many people had loved her," said Giunai.
Mourners cry at a memorial altar set up near Itaewon Station, Tuesday. Newsis.
Among the 156 deaths from the Itaewon crowd tragedy, 26 have been confirmed to be foreign nationals. Of them, five are from Iran, four are from Russia and China, respectively, two from the U.S., two from Japan, with one each from France, Australia, Austria, Norway, Vietnam, Thailand, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Sri Lanka.
The government announced on Tuesday that it will provide the same financial aid as Korean nationals to the foreign victims. The bereaved families will be offered up to 20 million won in relief money and up to 15 million won for funeral expenses, which includes the cost of repatriating the bodies or remains of the victims to their home countries.
Despite the government's commitment to assist the families of foreign victims, however, the complicated and time-consuming procedure is burdening some of the bereaved who need urgent help to cover upfront expenses.
The body of Yuliana Pak, a Koryoin (ethnic Korean from Russia) victim, is still lying in a mortuary of a hospital in Uijeongbu, Gyeonggi Province, because her family cannot afford to bring her back home.
The 25-year-old came to Korea in the summer of 2021 to live with her father who works at a factory here. Living in the port city of Incheon, west of Seoul, she worked as an English teacher at a kindergarten.
A fundraising poster for Yuliana Pak reads, "Any amount of donation will be appreciated to her father Artur Pak's account (Woori Bank 1002-259-554-535). Courtesy of the Koryoin community in Incheon
"Her body urgently needs to be transferred to Russia. Her mother is desperately waiting to see her daughter's face for the last time," said Tatiana Primakova, head of the Koryoin community in Incheon, who has organized a fundraising campaign for the expenses needed to bring her body to Russia.
In a phone call with The Korea Times, Primakova explained that Pak's family plans to hold her funeral at her home town in Nakhodka, a port city in Primorsky Krai. And to do so, her body should be transported by a ferry which leaves Donghae port for Vladivostok every Friday.
"It would cost about seven million won to transport the body. But Yuliana's father, who works at a factory, can't afford to pay for all that. He is doing his best, but I'm afraid we might not make it on the ferry leaving this Friday. Then we would have to wait for another week."
"We've been told that the government will pay a lump sum of 15 million won for the funeral and repatriation," she said. "But we don't know when the money will come, nor have we received proper guidance on how the process works and what kind of papers the family needs to prepare."
At a briefing on Wednesday, a senior official at the Ministry of the Interior and Safety did not immediately respond to The Korea Times' inquiry about what documents the bereaved families of foreign victims need to prepare to expedite the process.
"I'm not aware of the detailed process. We will provide detailed information in a written form as soon as possible," he said.
