A single candle can illuminate an entire room. However, there is a place that could not be lit up by hundreds of candles, and is calling out for more of them: the Seoul National University Hospital (SNUH) where the body of a Korean activist farmer, Baek Nam-gi, lies.
Since the news of Baek’s death spread on Sept. 25, hundreds of candles have appeared and brightened around where he is placed, nightly. To find out about a darkness that hundreds of candles are struggling to brighten, The Argus observed the nightly candlelight vigils for Baek at the funeral hall at SNUH on National Foundation Day (Oct. 3).

How Baek died

On Nov. 14, 2015, the largest antigovernment demonstration “People All Out Rally”- made up of 53 civil groups calling for satisfactory resolution of different social issues including the Sewol Ferry disaster, “comfort women” deal, and government-issued history textbook - was held at Gwanghwamun Square, Seoul.

The peaceful rally turned violent as it was confronted by police during the march to the Blue House where President Park Geun-hye resides.
Baek Nam-gi, a 69-year-old farmer who attended to demand the setting of agricultural support prices, was struck unconscious by a police water cannon while attempting to overturn a police vehicle. After 10 months in a coma, he passed away on Sept. 25.

Controversy over Baek’s death: Violent demonstration matters or police brutality matters?

Violent demonstration matters
“People All Out Rally” was initially unpermitted for local traffic reasons, and was thus illegal. Besides, the protesters resorted to violence against police, throwing iron pipes and bricks at officers and overturning vehicles. Consequently, 113 officers were injured and 50 vehicles were damaged.

Police brutality matters
The police breached guidelines on the use of water cannons. According to the guidelines, the cannons should be aimed below the chest, in the order of ‘warning shot - indirect shot - direct shot.’ However, the water cannon hit Baek’s head with a direct shot and continued blasting him as he collapsed on the ground, endangering his life.

Suspicion on Baek’s death: Whether death certificate was fabricated

After Baek’s death, his doctor, Baek Sun-ha, wrote on his death certificate that the cause was “disease,” not injury. This led to suspicion as to whether Dr. Baek was under pressure from the police.
According to Korean death certificate guidelines, doctors should choose one of the two main causes of death: disease or injury. If someone died from a complication after injury, the death cause should be the prior cause, “injury.” However, even though Baek Nam-gi had died from one of the most common after-injury complications, acute kidney failure, Dr. Baek wrote “disease” as the cause.
Suspicion that the police pressured Dr. Baek in order to evade their responsibility became more serious as not only his bereaved family, but also experts in the medical field announced statements refuting the document.

6:00 p.m. Arrived at SNUH

An hour before the vigil started, The Argus arrived on the opposite side of SNUH funeral hall in Jongno-gu, Seoul. Seen from a distance, the building seemed to be clothed in black and white banners expressing condolences for his death.
When reaching the third floor where Baek lies, The Argus was welcomed by a middle-aged woman from “Baek Nam-gi Struggle Committee.” She asked visitors to sign a petition calling for a probe into the fatal incident and punishments for those responsible, and gave a sack of rice - of which Baek asked the government to create a support price before his collapse - for those who joined.

Behind her back, a big banner - reading, “We remember Baek Nam-gi who was victimized by state violence”- was hung, with hundreds of post-its conveying messages of condolences from citizens.
After bowing down before the picture of the deceased, mourners went down to the first floor as guided.

At the vacant lot outside the building were a food truck, plastic tables and chairs, something no one could easily imagine to find at a funeral. Piled-up high, bottled water and instant noodles were surrounding the truck.
A middle-aged woman who was cooking instant rice and noodles on the truck said, “We are running this truck with donated food to receive all visitors from all parts of the country. It has been nine days since Mr. Baek passed away, but still many come. Thanks to citizens’ strong support, there is no big problem though.”

6:30 p.m. Preparing for candlelight vigil

About 30 minutes ahead of the event, three couches arrived, and more than 100 farmers from Goseong-gun in South Jeolla province, five hours away from Seoul, got off. They went straight to the third floor and started preparing for the vigil with Baek Nam-gi Struggle Committee members; they spread mats on the tarmac outside the building and took out the candles.

7:00 p.m. Urgent press conference

As the clock was about to strike 7 p.m., the funeral hall was thrown into an uproar. The committee members abruptly folded up the mats and called reporters. Reporters who were waiting on the scene ran into the hall. Then at 7 p.m., - the original starting time of the vigil - a news conference was held instead. It was to refute SNUH’s announcement like a bolt from the blue.

At 3 p.m. on the same day, the SNUH Investigation Commission had convened a news conference to allay the widespread suspicion that Dr. Baek was under pressure from the police.
“It is true that Baek’s death certificate is different from the guidelines, but it is clear that the cause of his death was disease, not injury,” the commission said.
Dr. Baek said, “I thought he died from disease because he died from the lack of complete treatment. If he died even after receiving a complete treatment, I would have said he died from injury.” And then he added, “The certificate was written based only on my medical judgment, not external pressure.”

At the conference held at the funeral parlor, Baek’s bereaved family showed a video clip of Dr. Baek talking about the condition of Baek Nam-gi right after he was taken to the hospital.
In the video, after declaring that Mr. Baek was brain dead, he said, “There is less than one percent chance of him waking up from his coma.”
As the video ended, Baek Doraji, Baek’s oldest daughter, held a microphone and said “Dr. Baek had already known that my father would die even if he got life-prolonging treatment.” She added with a quivering voice, “It is very appalling to see Dr. Baek saying that my father died because of his family, us, who refused to have him treated.”

8:00 p.m. Opening of candlelight vigil

An hour after the scheduled time, organizers spread the mats again and distributed paper cup candles they had already made for visitors. Candles in the hands of more than 200 people - Baek’s neighbors, farmers, nuns and college students ? were illuminated one by one, marking the beginning of the candlelight vigil.
The event started with a silent prayer for Baek. People sitting with their legs folded stood up all together, bowed their heads and prayed for him, with a glowing candle in their hands.

Soon after, a middle-aged woman came up on the stage. The woman, who introduced herself as a “Sorrikkun,” or a Korean traditional singer, was in a black suit, not a colorful Hanbok, or Korean traditional clothes. She said, “I have been on stage for decades, but this is my first time singing in a black suit. I wish the hidden truth of the incident to be discovered so that the wrongly-murdered Mr. Baek could rest in peace.” She sang a Buddhist prayer for about 10 minutes, and several people kept shedding and wiping their tears throughout the song.

As the song came to its end, a middle-aged male from Baek Nam-gi Struggle Committee briefed the audience on the circumstances that led to the press conference for those who could not attend the conference. And he condemned both the police and SNUH, saying, “The police who murdered Baek tried to abdicate their responsibility by fabricating his death certificate, and did not even apologize. And SNUH is acting in collusion with the police, ruining its own reputation.”

The atmosphere charged by emotional speech reached its peak as Baek’s neighboring farmer from Goseong-gun recited his own poem for Baek. He took out a folded piece of paper from his pocket and then read: “While grains grow ripe, where did you go? While fruits grow ripe, where did you go? Wake up Mr. Baek. Let’s go back to the wheat field.”

9:00 p.m. Closing of candlelight vigil

The leader of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Choi Jong-jin, appeared on the stage with his saxophone hung on his neck. After announcing that he was an amateur player, he clumsily played a protest song, “In the Wilderness.” To the accompaniment of the saxophone, people sang sorrowful lyrics. “In the wilderness from the sun-rising East Sea to the sun-setting West Sea, how could we starve? How could we hesitate? In the wilderness, we clasp the warm soil.”

The two-hour-long vigil closed in an hour with a chorus of the song because of the news conference. Even though organizers announced the end of the event, people seemed unable to leave their seats for a while as if something was missing.

Even today - after more than a month has passed since Baek died - hundreds of candles are in a wake. What is the dark truth that candles are struggling to light up? How many candles should be burnt to reveal the truth? Would it be possible if hundreds of thousands of candles are burning?

Associate Editor of National Section