A funeral-assistant bus. (image: Ministry of Health and Welfare)
SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Korea Bizwire) — The government will send buses to assist with the funerals of the deceased who have no family or friends to take care of their bodies, the health ministry said Thursday.
The Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it will send buses to support the funerals of the deceased without family or friends in municipal districts with a shortage of funeral support systems due to the rare occurrence of such deaths.
The buses will be furnished with a boarding space for visitors, a low-temperature mortuary refrigerator, and a temporary funeral parlor.
In cases when it’s difficult to use an incense altar at regional cremation facilities, funeral rites can be conducted inside the buses.
The buses will be furnished with a boarding space for visitors, a low-temperature mortuary refrigerator, and a temporary funeral parlor. (image: Ministry of Health and Welfare)
As of last month, a total of 86 municipal governments had applied to participate in the project. The number of deceased individuals without family or friends has been growing year after year.
According to the ministry, the number of deceased people without family or friends has been on an upward trend over the past five years, rising from 2,008 in 2017 to 2,314 in the first half of this year.
In particular, since the outbreak of the coronavirus in 2020, the number of such deaths has increased at a steeper rate.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
