Framed photos of foreign nationals who died in the crowd crush in Itaewon last Saturday are placed at a makeshift memorial altar set up near Itaewon Station in Seoul, Thursday. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

By Lee Yeon-woo

Actress Lee Young-ae is back in the spotlight for helping an ethnic Korean who died in the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon last Saturday. Lee donated money to cover the sending of Korean Russian Yuliana Pak's body back to Russia via a ferry.

The 25-year-old came to Korea in 2021 to live with her father who works at a factory here. She made a living by teaching English in kindergartens.

Actress Lee Young-ae / Courtesy of Warner Bros. Korea

According to the Korea Foundation for Persons with Disabilities (KFPD), Lee sent the money to the KFPD which was forwarded to the Russian Embassy in Seoul, after learning about Pak's father's plea for help in a media interview. The older Pak said sending his daughter's body back to Russia via ferry would cost him $5,000, which his family couldn't afford. He asked for help, saying there is a ferry that would leave Donghae for Vladivostok on Nov. 4. The ferry operates once a week, so they would have to wait another week if they miss the one leaving Donghae on Nov. 4.

Lee said she wanted to help the Pak family. The actress wanted to keep her good deed a secret, and even her agency didn't know about it. It only came to light because the KFPD disclosed it.

The actress is no stranger to good deeds. In 2017 following an earthquake in the northwestern part of Iran, she donated 160 million won to quake victims as well as in South Korea's southern coastal city of Pohang.

The Russian Embassy in Seoul also vowed to help. It reached out to Pak's family and promised to issue every necessary document to him as soon as possible. They even said they can negotiate the cost directly with the company in charge of transporting her body.

The Korean government also stepped in. "We will prepare 35 million won for funeral and repatriation costs as soon as Pak requests that money with documents issued from the Embassy of Russia," Yongsan District said Wednesday.

Citizens who heard Pak's story, including members of the Koryoin community in Russia, raised money to have Pak's remains repatriated.

Her body will arrive in Nakhodka this Friday, where her mother is waiting.

"Her father is very exhausted as he tried to find someone who can lend him money after the accident while receiving tremendous amounts of calls. He couldn't explain his situation and feelings properly. We are truly grateful for everybody's support and help," said Tatiana Primakova, head of the Koryoin community in Incheon. She was a close friend of Yuliana Pak.

To help foreign families cover expenses, Asiana Airlines expressed its willingness to offer free round-trip air tickets for the victims' families, Wednesday.

The crowd crush in Itaewon took the lives of 156 people, 26 of whom are foreign nationals from 14 countries. Five of them are from Iran, four are from Russia, four are from China, two are from the U.S. and two are from Japan, with one each from Australia, Austria, France, Kazakhstan, Norway, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Uzbekistan and Vietnam.

Asiana Airlines plans to offer tickets to families coming from nine countries: Australia, China, France, Japan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Vietnam, the U.S. and Uzbekistan. Asiana does not currently operate direct flights to the other five countries.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is considering ways to cover funeral expenses in advance for foreign families. It also said it is cooperating with the Ministry of Justice to simplify immigration procedures for bereaved families.