Lee Hyo-sik is Finance Desk editor at The Korea Times. He manages finance-related stories on macroeconomics, banks, stocks, bonds, crypto etc. He is passionate about covering what's happening in Korea's financial industry and explaining it to both Korean and non-Korean readers. You can reach him at leehs@koreatimes.co.kr. Your insights and feedbacks are always appreciated.
Memorial service for three climbers to be held in Seoul
The family members of the three missing mountaineers and rescue workers held a memorial service for climber Park Young-seok and two other mountaineers at a base camp on the Himalayas, Sunday, three weeks after they disappeared.
To pay condolences locally, the memorial ceremony will also be held here from Tuesday through Thursday at Seoul National University Hospital, the Korean Alpine Federation (KAF) said.
Rescue workers have decided to suspend search operations.
Rescue workers dispatched from South Korea and locals there engaged in intense rescue operations but failed to find traces of the climbers who lost contact while trying to climb a Himalayan peak earlier this month.
Whether to resume the operations will be decided after talks with family members, officials said.
Park, Kang Ki-seok and Shin Dong-min were on a mission to Annapurna when their base lost contact with them on Oct. 18. Annapurna is one of the world’s 14 highest peaks, which are collectively called the “eight-thousanders,” since each is at least 8,000 meters above sea level.
Park, 47, is one of the world’s most successful climbers.
In 2005, he became the first in the world to complete the true Adventurers’ Grand Slam, which entails reaching the North Pole and the South Pole, and scaling the 14 eight-thousanders and the Seven Summits, which are the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.