Family grants mother’s last wish in Jeju

A daughter’s effort to fulfill her terminally ill mother’s final wish led to a monthlong family stay in Jeju after her appeal drew attention on a public petition platform.

The Jeju Tourism Organization said Sunday it supported a one-month stay for the family of Lee Yong-suk, 60, who has stage 4 bile duct cancer, from March 29 to April 25.

The trip began earlier this year when Lee’s daughter, Park Su-a, 39, posted a message on the government’s online petition system. She wrote that her mother had spent her life working to raise her children and had recently been told she had little time left. She said she hoped to give her mother a final family trip to Jeju, a place she had long wanted to visit.

Moved by the appeal, the organization offered free lodging at “Dongbaek Eonujae,” a guesthouse in Dongbaek Village in Namwon-eup, Seogwipo, part of a long-stay tourism program. Lee said the month she spent in Jeju was the warmest and happiest time of her life. An official from the organization described the support as meaningful.

제주=송은범 seb1119@donga.com