Sewol ferry victim’s bag returned to his mother

A bag owned by a victim of the Sewol ferry tragedy was retrieved and returned to his mother last Friday.

The owner of the bag was identified as Danwon High School student Baek Seung-hyun. The belongings inside it included a student card, 18 contact lenses, a wallet, two T-shirts, a pair of shoes and 50,000 won ($44)

Lim Young-ho, a volunteer for the Sewol disaster, shared five pictures of the retrieved items and Baek’s portraits via his Facebook account Sunday.

“Baek was a devoted son who said, ‘I love you, mom,’ every day. He always gave his mother massages and helped separate trash,” Lim said in the caption of the post. “Baek, the only son of his family, wished to become an animal trainer in the future.” 

(Lim's Facebook)“It still breaks my heart,” Lim Hyun-sil, the mother of Baek, told Yonhap News Agency. She had given 50,000 won to her son as pocket money to use during the school trip to Jeju Island, where Baek and other students had been headed.

The belongings are now placed in Baek’s room, which has remained intact since he left for the tragic trip in 2014. The body of Baek was found 20 days after the Sewol ferry sank. He now lies in repose at Hyowon Memorial Park in Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province.

By Park Ju-young ([email protected])