Funeral Mass for the late Choi Bool-am to be held at Yeouido Cathedral on November 2; Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung to preside

[Financial News] Funeral arrangements have been finalized for the late actor Choi Bool-am (whose real name was Choi Young-han). After the funeral procession on the 2nd of next month, a funeral Mass will be held at Yeouido Cathedral in Seoul. Cardinal Yeom Soo-jung, who baptized him into the Catholic faith and administered the Anointing of the Sick before his death, will also preside over the funeral Mass.■ Funeral Mass at Yeouido Cathedral after the processionAccording to Green Umbrella on the 30th, the body will be placed in the coffin on November 1, and the funeral procession will leave the funeral hall at Asan Medical Center in Songpa District, Seoul, at around 7:40 a.m. on the 2nd. The deceased's funeral room has been set up in Room 20 of the same funeral hall.
The funeral Mass will be held at around 9 a.m. at Yeouido Cathedral in Yeongdeungpo District, Seoul, after the procession. After the Mass, people will pay their respects at around 10:40 a.m. at Green Umbrella's headquarters in Mugyo-dong, Jung District, Seoul. The burial site is Donghwa Gyeongmo Park in Paju, Gyeonggi Province.
The connection between the deceased and Cardinal Yeom dates back to 2018. That October, Choi Bool-am was baptized into the Catholic faith, with Cardinal Yeom presiding. He chose Francis as his baptismal name to express his wish to follow the spirit of Saint Francis of Assisi, who served people in need.
At the time, a ceremony renewing his marriage vows with his wife, actor Kim Min-ja, was also held alongside the baptism. On the 20th, Cardinal Yeom also visited the deceased in his hospital room at a hospital in Gangseo District, Seoul, where he was being treated as an inpatient, and administered the Anointing of the Sick. The Anointing of the Sick is a Catholic rite that offers consolation and prayers for healing to believers suffering from illness or frailty due to old age.■ A bond with children, honored with a Green Umbrella Children's Foundation funeralThe funeral, organized by Green Umbrella Children's Foundation, will last five days. Green Umbrella chairman Hwang Young-key will head the funeral committee, with former prime ministers Lee Soo-sung and Lee Nak-yeon among its members.
After reading a memorial statement that day, Chairman Hwang said during a question-and-answer session that the deceased had expressed during his lifetime a wish for Green Umbrella Children's Foundation to hold his funeral. He recalled that when he last met the deceased, he was having difficulty speaking and nodded when Hwang said they would take good care of the funeral arrangements.
Choi Bool-am became associated with Green Umbrella while filming Country Diaries in 1981. In 1985, he was appointed head of its national supporters' association and supported children at home and abroad. From 1994, he traveled to the Americas and Europe to help establish overseas supporters' associations, and also visited aid projects in Africa.
As chairman of the incorporated association Zero Camp, he also supported cultural and arts education for juvenile inmates and their reintegration into society.
Green Umbrella will set up memorial spaces on the first floor of its headquarters in Jung District, Seoul, and on its website for members of the public and supporters wishing to honor the deceased.
Choi Bool-am began his acting career in 1959 with the play Hamlet and won the public's affection as Chief Park Young-han in Chief Detective and Mr. Kim of Yangchon-ri in Country Diaries. From 2011 through last year, he hosted KBS 1TV's Korean Cuisine and Dining.
The deceased died on the 29th while receiving inpatient treatment at a hospital in Gangseo District, Seoul. He was 87.
[email protected] Shin Jin-a, Jang In-seo Reporter