As the body of Lee Hae-chan, senior vice chair of The Peaceful Unification Advisory Council (PUAC), who died while on a business trip to Vietnam, is scheduled to be transported to Korea on the night of the 26th (local time), the transfer proceeded with special courtesies from the Vietnamese government.
The deceased's body was moved in the afternoon from the Ho Chi Minh Forensic Science Center on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh City to Tan Son Nhat International Airport. Vietnamese police escorted the motorcade on motorcycles to assist the transfer. Bereaved family members and Cho Jung-sik, presidential special adviser for political affairs and a lawmaker of the Democratic Party of Korea, also accompanied the transport.
After the deceased died the previous day in the intensive care unit of Tam Anh General Hospital in Ho Chi Minh City, the body was moved to the forensic center and underwent procedures including preparation of the body and damage-prevention treatment for air transport.
This forensic center, completed in 2023, is Vietnam's top-tier forensic facility and corresponds to Korea's National Forensic Service. Vietnamese authorities were said to have provided the facility and supported expedited handling of the body out of consideration for the senior vice chair, who previously served as prime minister.
At the airport, departure procedures are also expected to proceed quickly with support from the Vietnamese side. Typically, when a death occurs in Vietnam, overseas transfer procedures are known to be complicated due to quarantine issues, but this time the Ministry of Foreign Affairs sent official letters to relevant departments such as airport quarantine and customs to request cooperation and opened the VIP area, among other support.
The deceased's body is scheduled to depart at 11:50 p.m. on Korean Air Lines Flight 476 and arrive in Korea on the morning of the 27th.