▲ A student from Department of Philosophy stayed at the incense altar of Park Se-won and encouraged Donggukians to write their signatures on the petition.
/Photograph by Kim Ji-seun

   Due to the recent unfortunate death caused by a firearm accident of a Donggukian, Park Se-won, a student in the Department of Philosophy, the school and the Department of Philosophy have expressed their condolences through several efforts such as filing two different petitions, making an incense altar, and holding a Buddhist ceremony, 49-jae, in honor of the dead student.

   In front of the Central Library, there has been an incense altar for Park Se-won. Students from the Department of Philosophy stayed and tried to get signatures from Donggukians for two petitions. One petition is about obtaining an official acknowledgement for Park Se-won to be recognized as a man of national merit. At the moment, his death is considered as a policeman who died on duty but not as a person of national merit. The other petition is a call for the confinement of the inspector. The official ruling was that it was an accidental homicide, but the bereaved family and students from the Department of Philosophy argued that they cannot accept it. Thus, the other petition is a call for the arrest of the inspector on charges of murder through willful negligence.

   Thanks to writing out the petition continuously, on September 24th, the prosecution indicted the inspector for both of murder through willful negligence and accidental homicide. The prosecution asserted that although there was the possibility of firing live ammunition from the gun, since the inspector did not check the live ammunition, it could be seen as an intention. About this result, Park Moon-soo, the Student Council of Liberal Arts and majoring in the Department of Philosophy, said, “It is just as well that the trial will go along under wish of the bereaved family and students from the Department of Philosophy. However, I hope that more people do not forget not only this unfortunate accident but also many different deaths resulted from the organizational contradiction.”

   In addition, Dongguk University has been holding a specific kind of Buddhist ceremonies, 49-jae, to commemorate the memory of a deceased person from August 31st to October 12th. The ceremony was took place every Monday for 49 days from 10:30 A.M. to 12:00 P.M. at Jeonggakwon. According to Liberal Arts of Student Council, it will run other efforts such as creating badges and stickers for Park Se-won.

김지선  jiseunk@dongguk.edu

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