[custom_adv] In a dimly lit room, people dressed in white burial shrouds slowly sit up inside the wooden coffins where they had been lying, enclosed, for 10 minutes. Blinking, pale and solemn, they say they thought about their past and their loved ones while inside the coffins and vow to live better lives now.“I gained courage to live a new life,” said Wang Yong-yo, 67, sobbing. “I thought about my dead mother … she was really beautiful when she was young and was very generous.” The morbid trend is becoming a hit at the Hyowon Healing Center in Seoul. There, wannabe zombies come dressed in burial garb, take funeral portraits, create a will and lay in a closed coffin for 10 minutes. [custom_adv] The mock funerals are part of a “well-dying” trend in South Korea, a sign that the country, once one of the world’s poorest after the devastating 1950-53 Korean War, has grown affluent enough to consider quality-of-life issues. An instructor walks them through their final moments as they each climb into a wooden coffin. South Koreans are dying to find out what death is like. [custom_adv] Supporters credit the services with helping participants map out better futures, but critics say they are nothing but money-making businesses. “Living funeral services,” coffin and all, are becoming increasingly popular at a local healing center, which has laid to rest more than 25,000 undead people since 2012 [custom_adv] SEOUL, South Korea — Did you ever wonder what it would be like to be at your own funeral? Some South Koreans aren’t waiting to die to find out. A handful of companies conduct the mock funerals, and the rivalry is getting ugly. One company is planning to sue Hyowon Healing Center, which staged Tuesday’s event and leads the industry, claiming it stole the idea. [custom_adv] Many who join the mock funerals seek relief from the stresses of modern life in South Korea, whose suicide rate tops the developed world. There is widespread tension, especially among young South Koreans, over highly competitive college entrance exams, job searches, long working hours and widening inequality. [custom_adv] After an instructional lecture and video, participants are led into a dimly lit hall decorated with chrysanthemums, where they sit, often tearfully, beside caskets and write their last testaments. Then they put on burial shrouds and lie down in the coffins. [custom_adv] A grim-looking man dressed in a black robe, “the Envoy from the Other World,” hammers the lids closed. The participants are left encased in utter darkness for 10 minutes — which can feel like an eternity. [custom_adv] Some participants had terminal illnesses and wanted help preparing for the end; others had suicidal impulses that they wanted to dispel. Businesses send employees as part of a motivational program. [custom_adv] South Koreans during a mock funeral service in Seoul on Saturday. Such funerals have become popular in South Korea as a way to gain more appreciation for life.
