Actor Lee Ji-han was among the 159 people who died in the Halloween crowd crush in Itaewon last year. Photo: AFP
A year after the death of South Korean actor Lee Ji-han, his mother Cho Mi-eun is still struggling to come to terms with it.
Lee, 24, was among the 159 people who died in the Halloween crowd crush in the nightlife district of Itaewon in Seoul on Oct 29, 2022.
He found fame in 2017 in the second season of reality singing contest Produce 101 and was set to appear in the fantasy-romance drama Kokdu: Season Of Deity (2023).
Cho posted a long note on her son’s Instagram account on his first death anniversary on Sunday (Oct 29).
“Ji-han... this is mum,” she wrote in Korean. “It’s been a year since I saw you.”
Sharing several photos of Lee when he was a child and an adult, she said she could not remember his eyes, even though her memory of him is still vivid.
“No matter how hard I try, I still can’t remember your clear eyes,” she wrote. “Mum is fighting a different kind of despair every day.”
Cho said she could not help but imagine the fear and pain Lee felt during his last moments when he lay on the road and waited for help.
She added that she has been visiting the columbarium where his ashes are kept, each time taking the bus and getting off at the 53rd stop.
“I feel like I am carrying a rock in my heart when I walk the 200m to meet you, with the path so unfamiliar and difficult,” she wrote. “Why do I have to travel on this road to meet you?”
She blamed the authorities for the lack of preparations and for failing to respond adequately to the incident. She also vowed to seek answers to the tragedy.
“My anger grows every day with the number of days I have not seen you,” she wrote. “I will try to do everything I can to make sure your death is not in vain.” – The Straits Times/Asia News Network
