Korean actress Lee Young-ae, star of the hit drama “Jewel in the Palace,” has offered to help cover costs in the repatriation of a body of a Russian woman who died in the horrific Itaewon crowd crush in Seoul on Oct. 29.
A total of 156 people died in the Itaewon tragedy when tens of thousands crammed a narrow alley to celebrate Halloween, causing crowd crush.
Of the 156, 26 were foreigners. Five from Iran, four from Russia, two each from the US and Japan, and one each from France, Australia, Austria, Norway, Vietnam, Thailand, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Sri Lanka.
One of the four Russians who died in the tragedy was Yuliana Park (also referred to in other reports as Juliana Park), 25, who reportedly worked as a teacher at a kindergarten in Incheon, South Korea.
Her father, Arthur Park, a third generation Goryeo-in, a term referring to ethnic Koreans who live in Central Asia and Russia, appealed to Korean media for help, saying it was hard to come up with $5,000 needed to repatriate her daughter’s body by ship from Gangwon, South Korea to Vladivostok, Russia.
The ship’s schedule is on Nov. 4 and if the family misses it, they need to wait for another week.
Upon learning about this, Lee Young-ae offered to shoulder the cost of repatriation, according to the Korean Foundation for Persons with Disabilities where she serves as the advisory chair.
Asiana Airlines, on the other hand, will provide air tickets to families of foreigners who died in the Itaewon crowd crush. It intends to provide round-trip tickets to families of 14 foreign victims in nine countries where the airline is operating.
The government of South Korea said it will give 20 million won ($14,000) as financial help to the families of foreigners who died in the tragedy. For funeral and repatriation of bodies, an additional 15 million won ($10,500) will be given.