By Lee Hyo-sik
The funeral for the two civilian construction workers killed by North Korea’s artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island was held at an Incheon hospital, Monday, 13 days after their bodies were found on Nov. 24.
The bodies were discovered on the island a day after the North’s attack.
The bereaved families had previously refused to hold a burial service for the dead unless the government designated them as men of national merit who sacrificed themselves for others. But the government was reluctant to accept their demands, saying the late Kim Chi-baek and Bae Bok-cheol were just unfortunate civilian casualties.
Only after Incheon City had promised the families monetary compensation and subsidies for the funeral service, they decided to hold the funeral.
The service was held at 9:30 a.m., attended by family members, friends and dignitaries, including Incheon Mayor Song Young-gil and Rep. Won Hee-ryong of the ruling Grand National Party.
However, no senior officials representing the central government attended the funeral ceremony.
After the funeral, the bodies were carried to a municipal crematorium at the Incheon Family Park. The remains were placed in a nearby charnel house at 11:00 a.m.
Last Saturday, Incheon City and the bereaved families reached an agreement on the terms of the funeral proceedings and compensation.
The city promised to offer the families state compensation and private donations collected from the public. It also decided to shoulder maintenance fees for keeping the remains in the charnel house for the first 10 years and erect a monument on Yeonpyeong Island in honor of the deceased.
At first, the bereaved families had demanded that Kim and Bae should be recognized as those who sacrificed their lives for the country and others. Under the law, if recognized by the nation, their bodies would have been buried at the National Cemetery and the bereaved families entitled to nearly 200 million won in compensation and other state benefits.
But the government had refused to accept their demands, citing the way similar cases in the past had been handled.
In April, two fishermen were found dead and seven others went missing when their fishing boat, which had helped the Navy search for missing sailors of the sunken naval vessel Cheonan, was lost in the West Sea. But they were not named as men of national merit because the boat sank while returning to the port, not during the search operation.