Lee Jae-myung on Captain Kim Hong-bin Ahead of Funeral: "Sending Off the Indomitable Mountaineer"

The late Captain Kim Hong-bin's photo posted on Facebook by Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Lee Jae-myung, Governor of Gyeonggi Province, expressed a heartfelt sense of solidarity as a fellow disabled person of the same age, one day before the funeral of Captain Kim Hong-bin.

On the 7th, Lee posted on Facebook an article titled "Sending off Captain Kim Hong-bin. In Our Himalayas," reflecting, "What is a mountain?" and "When I was young and naive, I secretly thought about that."

However, he said, "As I get older, I come to feel what it is that makes people risk their lives to climb," adding, "There are days when you pour out all your worries and sweat climbing again and again, and it is hard to endure if you don’t. Sometimes, you long for that vast embrace that silently holds your place as if it were fate."

He continued, "One day before Captain Kim Hong-bin’s funeral, I wonder what the mountain meant to him," expressing empathy, "Although he lost all ten fingers in an accident, as he said he was happiest when looking at the mountain, every moment climbing the mountain must have been the time he most vividly felt alive."

Furthermore, he said, "Sending off a fellow indomitable mountaineer of the same age, the boy (Lee Jae-myung) who once filled his diary with pessimism over his crooked arms offers his deepest respects," highly praising, "He ultimately climbed the Himalayas of life magnificently."

He added, "At this very moment, I send a heartfelt sense of solidarity to all those silently climbing their own Himalayas," and "By doing our best to climb, we are already walking the ridge of the summit."

Earlier, Captain Kim was reported to have reached the summit of Broad Peak (8,047m) around 4:58 p.m. local time on the 18th of last month and was descending when he went missing around midnight at an altitude of 7,900m.

Captain Kim sent a distress signal via satellite phone and was found the next morning on the 19th by a Russian rescue team, but he fell again and went missing while climbing up using a jumar (ascender).

Subsequently, a Pakistani military helicopter conducted six search flights over the accident site but failed to locate Captain Kim.

Captain Kim’s family realistically judged that survival was unlikely and requested the suspension of further search efforts.

Captain Kim’s funeral will be held as a "Republic of Korea Mountaineer Funeral," with the memorial service taking place at 10 a.m. on the 8th at the mortuary.

Earlier, Governor Lee sent his wife, Kim Hye-kyung, to the funeral hall in Gwangju on the 5th to mourn Captain Kim’s final journey and comfort the bereaved family.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.