World

A Mother Mourns a Daughter Lost in the Seoul Crowd Surge


Park Ga-young is a small-town girl who is going to school in a big city with the dream of continuing her studies abroad.

Originally from the rural town of Hongseong, western South Korea, she is a student at Mokwon University in Daejeon, a city not far from her home. She also worked part-time to save money so that she could fulfill her dream of continuing to study fashion design in Canada.

On Saturday, Ms. Park, 19, was on vacation in Seoul, when she found herself caught up in the crowd Itaewon neighborhood during Halloween festival. She was one of 150 people who died.

She is supposed to turn 20 on Tuesday.

“What to do with my baby? What to do with my child? Park’s mother, Choi Seon-mi, said while she cried, her head and hands were against the wall at the Hannam Community Center, where families were waiting on Sunday to find their loved ones.

Ms. Choi, 49, fell from her chair when her daughter’s death was confirmed. She continued to cry as she entered the waiting room, where she told members of her extended family the news.

Ms. Choi said she knew her daughter had planned to go to Itaewon, and when she first heard that someone had died there on Saturday night, she said, “It felt like the sky was falling.” She said her last conversation with her daughter was about Ms. Park preparing to study abroad.

Mrs. Choi and her husband, Park Gye-soon, 50, were among a number of parents who spent their Sundays enduring the agonizing wait to see if their loved ones were among the dead. passed away or not.

Mr. Park and Ms. Choi went to the funeral home of Kangdong Sacred Heart Hospital in Seoul on Sunday afternoon, where authorities said their daughter’s body was found. At the funeral home, tears were still on Mrs. Choi’s face.

Ms. Choi struggled to express her feelings, overcome her grief. “How can I explain it in words?” she speaks.

“She is a beautiful child,” she said, showing a picture of her daughter. “She is very beautiful,” she added before shedding tears. Most of those killed were women and young men in their teens and 20s, like Ms. Park, officials said.

At some point throughout Sunday, Ms. Choi appeared to be paralyzed. Other times she was guilty. “Guess I’m a sinner. It’s all my fault,” she said.

And there are still other times when she gets angry. She wondered, how could there be tens of thousands of people in Itaewon and so few police? “That means what?” she speaks. “They say large crowds gather there every year, but the police haven’t improved anything.”

After a moment of silence, Mr. Park and Mrs. Choi stood up with a sigh and walked out of the funeral home, expressionless.

Su-Hyun Lee contribution report.

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