On July 31st, Seo-gu, Busan, held the “public funeral service” for two residents of single-person households who died alone. The two residents did not have any next of kin, so it was impossible to hold their funeral. Seo-gu placed them in the funeral hall with the funeral trust and proceeded in the same way as the usual way.: shrouding, casketing, cremation, and so on. Furthermore, Han-Soo Gong, the Chief of Seo-gu, visited the funeral parlor and offered condolences, for their “last way” to not be lonely. 

   Until now, the underprivileged or unclaimed bodies of those who lived alone were cremated without any funeral ceremony. Hence, on July 1st, 2020, Seo-gu legislated “The Ordinance of Public Funeral Service Support of Seo-gu, Busan (Busan Seo-gu Ordinance No.1291)” and it was the first instance of a public funeral service which starts from this year. The purpose of this ordinance is to take care of the people who could not hold the funeral because of poverty, being unclaimed, or family disorganization, so that they would not lose their human dignity and be able to rest in peace.

   The decision criteria for government support are living beneficiaries, the secondary poor, an emergency welfare beneficiary who does not have a connection, a household whose support obligator is a minor, disabled person, or senior over 75, and people without connection, among the Seo-gu with their resident registration. They will get one-day funeral support within the 200% limit of “national insurance of funeral”* for the basic living beneficiary.

   An anonymous officer from the Department of Living Support in Seo-gu, Busan said, “The ordinance was enacted as the proportion of the elderly population and the frequency of unclaimed death was increasing. According to the reinforced demand for public funeral services of the underprivileged, the purpose of this ordinance is to ensure the dignity of the deceased and to enhance the sense of community. We will do our best to make Seo-gu a place without anyone who ends their life lonely and to make the deceased rest in peace. We hope that society takes more interest in the underprivileged and that the culture of responsibility for the deceased will spread.”

* national insurance of funeral: Under the National Health Insurance Act, the insurance paid to the person who holds the funeral, when insurant or dependent died

By Lee Yeo-Jin, Desk Editor

yeojinlee@pusan.ac.kr