▲ The casket of the late former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan is draped with a South Korean flag at Tan Son Nhat International Airport in Ho Chi Minh City on Jan. 26, 2026, in this photo provided by Rep. Kim Hyun of the Democratic Party the next day. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

late ex-PM-funeral

Body of late ex-PM Lee Hae-chan arrives from Vietnam

YEONGJONGDO, South Korea, Jan. 27 (Yonhap) -- The body of former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, who died earlier this week during a visit to Vietnam, returned home Tuesday, ahead of a five-day funeral.

Lee, who was serving as a senior vice president of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC), died at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City on Sunday after suffering cardiac arrest.

A Korean Air flight carrying Lee's body, as well as bereaved family members and a group of ruling Democratic Party lawmakers, arrived at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, earlier in the day.

Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, who heads Lee's funeral committee, was present at the airport to receive the casket of his body draped in the national flag.

Lee's funeral will be held for five days this week in the combined format of a "social funeral" and an "institutional funeral, in consideration of his contribution to society, according to the PUAC.

(END)

[ⓒ K-VIBE. 무단전재-재배포 금지]