Quiet corner of Korea mourns Elizabeth II

Social Affairs

Published: 13 Sep. 2022, 18:47

Quiet corner of Korea mourns Elizabeth II

Koreans pay tribute to Queen Elizabeth II at a memorial altar in Hahoe Village in Andong, North Gyeongsang, on Tuesday. [NEWS1]

A village in the southeastern city of Andong has become a far-flung site of mourning for Britain’s Queen Elizabeth II.

According to Andong City on Tuesday, more than 8,000 people visited a memorial altar set up for the late queen in its Hahoe Folk Village on Sept. 10 during the Chuseok holidays.

Visitors left condolence messages in Korean on yellow and pink post-its reading, "I love you, Queen," "Rest In Peace" and "Be happy in heaven." Some laid white chrysanthemum flowers on the altar.

Bongjeongsa Temple, a 20-minute car ride from the village, also prepared a memorial site for the queen. The temple plans to hold a 49-day Buddhist memorial rite, with prayers conducted every seven days for seven weeks.

Andong has a 23-year relationship with Britain's Royal Family, particularly the late queen, her husband Prince Philip and their son Andrew.

In 1999, the royal couple made a visit to Andong.

This 1999 file photo shows Queen Elizabeth II, second from left, celebrating her 73rd birthday during her trip to Hahoe Village in the city of Andong, southeastern Korea. [YONHAP]

They came to Korea on the invitation of President Kim Dae-jung and visited the southern city on the queen's 73rd birthday. Villagers prepared a traditional Korean meal for her. Forty-seven kinds of food were served at the birthday banquet, including rice cakes made of apricot blossoms, which were served only to Korean kings in the past.

Queen Elizabeth also visited Chunghyodang House, a hanok in the village. She removed her shoes to enter the house, following Korean custom but something she wasn't known to have done before.

The queen then stopped at Bongjeongsa Temple and rang the bell.

Since that trip, Prince Andrew visited Andong City in 2019. He attended a naming ceremony for a road in the city. A 32-kilometer section connecting the village, Andong Agriculture and Marine Product Market and the temple was called Queen's Road after Elizabeth visited in 1999. It was renamed Royal Way during Andrew's visit.

On that trip, the prince was also given the same elaborate banquet.

Andong became something of a landmark in the bilateral relationship between Korea and Britain.

Every year since 2019, it sent boxes of applies picked in the city to Buckingham Palace on the British monarch's birthday.

Queen Elizabeth died on Sept. 8 at 96 years old after 70 years on the throne. Her funeral is set for Sept. 19 at Westminster Abbey. The memorial altar in Hahoe Village will be run until then.

Meanwhile, a separate memorial space was opened at the British Embassy in Seoul. It will accept visitors from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for four days from Tuesday through Sept. 16.

BY KIM YOON-HO, SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]