More than 25,000 people have participated in mass “living funeral” services at Hyowon Healing Centre since it opened in 2012, hoping to improve their lives by simulating their deaths (sounds like trying to improve your swimming by pretending to drown). “Once you become conscious of death, and experience it, you undertake a new approach to life,” said 75-year-old Cho Jae-hee, who participated in a recent living funeral as part of a “dying well” program offered by her senior welfare centre.
Dozens took part in the event, from teenagers to retirees, donning shrouds, taking funeral portraits, penning their last testaments, and lying in a closed coffin for around 10 minutes.
University student Choi Jin-kyu said his time in the coffin helped him realize that too often, he viewed others as competitors. “When I was in the coffin, I wondered what use that is,” said the 28-year-old, adding that he plans to start his own business after graduation rather than attempting to enter a highly-competitive job market.
South Korea ranks 33 out of 40 countries surveyed in the OECD’s Better Life Index. Many younger South Koreans had high hopes for education and employment, which have been dashed by a cooling economy and rising joblessness.
“It is important to learn and prepare for death even at a young age,” said Professor Yu Eun-sil, a doctor at Asan Medical Centre’s pathology department, who has written a book about death (bet he doesn’t get invited to many parties).
With death taken care of, do you think they might consider a tax course?
ThursdayAgain 
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