South Korea: Ms. Baek Soon-jeong, mother of former Vietnam national team coach Park Hang-seo, passed away this afternoon, February 2, at the age of 102.
Mr. Park heard the news while he was in Vietnam and hurriedly returned to Korea. On his personal Facebook page, the coach said his "heart was heavy" because of his mother's passing.
"Our family is deeply saddened by this loss and we appreciate your thoughts and condolences during this difficult time," the post said.
The funeral will be held at Sancheong Funeral Home in Gyeongsang Province on February 5. Ms. Baek will be laid to rest at Daejeon National Cemetery.
Coach Park Hang-seo with his mother in the nursing home in 2018. Photo: Joongang Ilbo
Ms. Baek was born on July 9, 1922 in Chukdong-myeon town, Sacheon-si city, Gyeongsangnam-do province. She married Mr. Park Rok, father of coach Park Hang-seo, in Sancheong city of the same province, and gave birth to five children - four boys, one girl, and Park Hang-seo is the youngest.
In Park Rok's hometown, Baek was called "Yojangbu", which means a woman as strong as a man. Coach Park's father was originally a policeman. When the Korean War broke out, Park Rok had to join the army. During his service, he was wounded in the leg. Therefore, Baek later replaced her husband as the main breadwinner of the family.
Ms. Baek was also called a "new woman" when she graduated from the prestigious Ilshin Girls' High School, later Jinju Girls' High School, when the educational level of Korean women was not high.
In an interview with Joongang Ilbo in 2022, Coach Park revealed that his mother sent all five of his brothers to study in Seoul and then to university despite the family's difficult circumstances. "At first, my mother opened a small pharmacy. Then, when the children's tuition fees increased, she opened a restaurant and even worked as a salt merchant. Thanks to my mother, I was able to come to Seoul and learn football," Mr. Park said.
Ms. Baek Soon-jeong (right) and Mr. Park Rok. Photo: Joongang Ilbo
Family members all agree that "Coach Park's personality is exactly like his mother's". When he was a player, Mr. Park always ran a lot until his physical strength was exhausted because he hated losing. Therefore, he was nicknamed "battery". Later, when he became a coach, Mr. Park showed more clearly many characteristics similar to his mother, such as leadership based on emotions or closeness.
Coach Park added: "As the youngest child, I sometimes argued with my mother and was often scolded by my parents. After I became the pillar of the family and a father, I understood my mother's heart. I understood why my mother was sometimes very affectionate, but also sometimes very resolute with me."
When he came to Vietnam to coach, Mr. Park gathered the players together and shouted out loud, half-jokingly, half-seriously, sentences like "Be filial to your parents", "Give your parents pocket money" or "Parents like cash".
"My mother was always full of energy. So I feel heartbroken that now, because of her old age, she can no longer remember many things," the former coach of the Vietnam national team once shared.
In 2019, while training with U23 Vietnam in Korea to prepare for the 2020 U23 Asian Cup finals, Coach Park led the entire team to visit Ms. Baek at the Sancheong County Nursing Home.
Hieu Luong
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