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

Published: 27 Jan. 2026, 10:36

The body of former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan is carried into the funeral hall at Seoul National University Hospital in Jongno District, central Seoul, on Jan. 27. [JOINT PRESS CORPS]

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 chartered flight carrying Lee's body, as well as bereaved family members and a group of ruling Democratic Party lawmakers, arrived at Incheon International Airport 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.

Yonhap