introduction

Part 1: Is Your Death Well?

1 I work for the dead, not the living.
2 After visiting the gates of the afterlife about 20 years ago
3. Concerning the care of the dead body
4 The corpse speaks after it has died.
5. Receive the last breath of the coronavirus victims. 1.
6. 2. Receive the last breaths of the coronavirus victims.
7 There is no one on this earth who has no ties. 1
8 There is no one on this earth who has no ties. 2
9 If a person is an animal that cannot live alone
10 Life and death are connected by a single line.
11 To tie death with a string
12 What will you wear when you die?
13 We all die with the face of a baby.
14 What happens if you ride in a limousine after you die?
15 A funeral is a game for the living.

Part 2: Thoughts at Death's Side

16 On the day I first washed the dead body
17 To young people who dream of becoming funeral directors
18 Funeral: Never Be Swayed by a Company
19 Bloodlines are a scary thing
20 The beginning of consideration lies in 'frequently'
21 On Legacy and Inheritance
22 Even if the family forgets them, we
23 The civil servant I can't forget
24 Death has no borders
25 Baby Boomers Were the Worst People
26 What is a sacrifice?
Don't forget that 27 Myeongdang is '1 minute by taxi or Uber'
28 Respect for humanity comes before tradition and formality.
29 An era where adults have disappeared, an era where education has disappeared
30 My Death I Wish

The last witness of death, uncared for by anyone,
The meaning of death and funerals that he tells us

“I work for the dead, not the living.”

When no one was willing to collect the bodies of COVID-19 victims, there was one person who rushed to the hospital before anyone else and stayed by their side.
There is a person who, without being asked to do so, took the lead and conducted the funerals of over 700 people who died alone and were basic livelihood security recipients.
In this world, there is a person who, with the hope that not a single person will die alone and miserable, lived a difficult life and died, and watched over the last moments of those who died, and witnessed their deaths.

His name is Kang Bong-hee, and his occupation is a funeral director.
A person who does the job that was called 'salting' in the past.
He cleans the body of the deceased, dresses the neatly arranged body in a shroud, and prepares it for burial by tying it in a shroud.
We also oversee the entire funeral, working with the bereaved family from the funeral home and funeral hall to the cremation and burial site.
Even after a person has passed away, there is still work to be done for the deceased before he returns to the earth.

Kang Bong-hee, the author of “I am a person who cares for death,” does not receive money or anything for this work.
He just does it because he likes it.
With the help of my juniors who also graduated from the funeral guidance department of Daegu Catholic University's Lifelong Education Center, I have continued this work without any material compensation.
Thanks to that, he was able to witness the final moments of those who died alone without any relatives, and those whose families were reluctant to hold funerals due to lack of money.
Even if someone has nothing and doesn't receive much attention from those around them, I hope they won't become a burden to society after they die, and I hope to provide them with the basics when they pass away.

After visiting the gates of the afterlife about 20 years ago,
Decided to work as a funeral director

More than 17 years have passed since he started doing this.
"I am a person who cares for death" contains everything that author Kang Bong-hee, who has such a unique background, felt and thought while working for the dead.
What thoughts does he have about the living and the dead, living a life where encountering corpses is a natural part of his life, both in the morgue and at the scene? What stories does he hope to tell us as he touches the corpses? What does he envision as a humane life and a humane death?

The reason why the author of the book, Bonghee Kang, started working as a funeral director is not ordinary.
He was diagnosed with bladder cancer in 1996 in his mid-forties and was given three months to live in the hospital.
After several years of painful struggles with illness and relapse, the author decides that if he walks out of the hospital alive, he will live a truly human life.
I will live without worrying about money, without fighting with others, and only doing what I like.


What caught the author's eye at that time was the funeral hall visible beyond the hospital room window.
Looking at the scene in front of the funeral home where corpses come and go every day, he decides that he must serve the dead.
It is human nature to want no one to touch the body of a dead person.
But someone is out there doing that.
It is the thing that most people in the world hate, but it is something that someone must do, and it is the most necessary and dignified thing in this world.
After recovering from cancer, he becomes a funeral director.
Kang Bong-hee confesses that it felt like the only thing she could do for someone after barely surviving a terminal illness for several years.

His message about dying alone, and
Reflecting on Human Death in the Tragedy of Corona

The thing that he was most concerned about and worried about was the corpses of people who died alone and without any relatives.
There is no one on this earth who does not have relatives, but it is a sad reality that the number of deaths caused by relatives or neighbors ignoring and neglecting someone is rapidly increasing.
It is reported that in 2021 alone, the number of people who died from loneliness will exceed 3,000.
The number of lonely deaths he is collecting is also increasing, and so over the past few years, many media outlets and broadcasters have asked him for his opinions on the issue of lonely deaths.


But he raises his voice to our society, telling us not to make a fuss about someone dying alone.
They criticize the fact that the body was discovered months after death, and they say they shouldn't even point a camera at it.
Making a big fuss in society about a person who was forgotten and ignored while alive dying alone is no different from looking at life and death as separate entities.
We could not forget him while he was alive, and we could take care of him so he would not die alone.
His message is that rather than writing articles or reciting theories after something happens, take action first. If you think there are people like that around you, contact them often or visit them.

He also drew public attention when he was among the first to recover the bodies of those who died from the COVID-19 virus in 2020.
In February 2020, when the coronavirus was spreading in Daegu and no funeral home was willing to touch the bodies of COVID-19 victims for fear of infection, he rushed to the hospital at the earnest request of the Daegu City Hall.
He confesses that it was the first time in his sixty-eight years of life that he had experienced such a tragedy, as he encountered a scene of death where the family could not even see the body for the last time, let alone a three-day funeral.
And he reveals that the experience made him rethink the fundamentals of how humans deal with death, the meaning of humans and funerals, and the determination that people should not die that way.

Life and death are never separate.
Warm reflections brought up near death

This book, "I am a Death Caretaker," describes in detail and meticulously not only the issue of lonely deaths and the handling of COVID-19 corpses, but also the entire process of death and funerals, along with reflections on them.
The author's process of purifying the corpse on the morgue and releasing the rigor mortis, stories about the traces the deceased left on their bodies, stories about the shrouds worn by the deceased, what he thought while moving the body of the deceased from the funeral home to the crematorium, that we all die with the face and expression of a baby, finding the bereaved family of the deceased, listening to their stories, and resolving the sorrow or resentment toward the deceased, etc...

Above all, he takes a critical look at our culture, which separates life and death.
The history of our ancestors who looked down on death was by no means short.
In the past, Baekjeong performed funerals, and the profession of dealing with death was the lowest occupation in our society.
It is in the same vein that the tombs of the dead were placed on the top of a mountain in a distant village and the bodies were wrapped tightly to prevent ghosts from reaching the living.
This is because everyone thought of death as something bad, something to be avoided, almost like a taboo.


But now things have to change.
Just as in Japan, where crematoriums and columbariums are located in the heart of downtown, and in the United States, where cemeteries are built in the heart of major cities, we too must increasingly eliminate this culture of thinking of death as separate from life.
It is a birth and death that our ancestors cut off, but we can start putting it on now.
The author warmly unfolds his thoughts on death and life, confident that everyone will be better off if the two go together.
Stories for young funeral directors, ways to never be swayed by funeral parlors, and about auspicious sites, about family, about bereaved families and inheritance, about bloodlines, about ancestral rites and community, about death without borders, and about the role of adults that has disappeared from our society…
The various short stories he has collected over nearly 20 years at the side of death permeate the entire manuscript of “I am a person who cares for death.”

Even though a funeral is ultimately a play for the living,
If there is any courtesy we should show to the dead,

The author describes himself as a person who cares about death.
Caring for the dead body is a solemn and blessed task.
It is the foundation of civilization that makes humans human, and the author says that there is nothing more rewarding than the last meeting of the bereaved family members who shared their love with the body that he has carefully prepared.
Funeral directors are in the business of presiding over a person's death, and by being respectful to both the living and the dead, they can truly provide deep comfort to the bereaved as they bid farewell to their loved ones.


But even if it is a death with no one by one's side, Kang Bong-hee believes that it is the right thing to do in this world for someone to be the last witness to that painful life.
Everything that happens at a funeral is the will of the living.
A funeral is ultimately a sad celebration of the living, and is like a dirge sung by everyone.
A dead person knows nothing from the moment he dies.
However, the author says that it would be right to view it as a duty of society and our own duty, rather than a matter of the living, to provide at least a minimal level of human care to those who have not received any care while alive and until the moment of death.

The last thing I want to do is protect a lonely person from loneliness after a lonely death.
The author says there were times when he felt a little pride in that work.
Even if we have no money or possessions, even if someone dies without anyone's condolences, even if a funeral is ultimately just a consolation for the living, there may be some courtesy we should show the dead.
The author believes that it exists.
Because a funeral director is someone who works to protect that very thing.