I Buseop, who earned the nickname "human traffic light" for volunteering to direct traffic across Daegu since the 1970s, died at about 6:30 a.m. on the 15th at his home in Yongsan-dong, Daegu, the bereaved family said. He was 87.
Born in Daegu in 1939, the deceased resolved to live a life of service to society after meeting Pastor Kim Jeong-u of Namyeong Church in Daegu in 1972.
Starting in May 1973, the following year, he took on traffic control in parts of downtown Daegu that traffic police found hard to reach. In particular, to protect young students' safety, he moved between outer areas densely packed with the city center and schools, monitoring traffic flow all day.
During his volunteer work, he continued various good deeds, such as returning lost children to their families and catching thieves to hand over to police.
Even in financially difficult circumstances, he did not stop volunteering. He still went out to the streets while feeding his family each month with a single sack of flour from the local district office, and as his activities became known, donations from bus companies and schools and letters of appreciation from police followed one after another.
He later became known as the "human traffic light" and established himself as one of the figures symbolizing Daegu. In 2008, he even took the mound to throw the ceremonial first pitch before Game 3 of the professional baseball semifinal playoff between the Lotte Giants and the Samsung Lions.
In 2018, he received a merit award at the 70th anniversary ceremony of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights hosted by the International Federation of Human Rights Advocates. At the time, he was recognized for contributing to the promotion of human rights, including volunteering for 42 years to reach out to marginalized neighbors.