Tears of the last survivor of the Cheonan Elementary School soccer team incident that killed nine elementary school students (Kkkomu)
Mar 28, 2025
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The 168th episode, which aired on the 27th, featured singers Baek Ji-young, actor Park Byung-eun, and tomorrow X TOMORROW X TOGETHER leader Soobin under the theme of 「Cheonan Elementary School Football Training Center Fire Incident」, about various dreams.
The incident began at Cheonan Elementary School's prestigious soccer team in Cheonan after the 2002 World Cup heated up South Korea. World Cup kids similar to Son Heung-min joined Cheonan Elementary School's soccer team in 2003 with 11 more players joining than usual, showing the soccer fever. Twenty-five elementary school students lived together in a 30-pyeong camp next to Cheonan Elementary School's soccer team playground and dreamed of becoming soccer players.
Among them were Chun, who transferred to Cheonan Elementary School because of Park Ji-sung as a role model, Min-su, who joined the soccer team following his brother's dream of becoming a member of the national team, and Jang-ho, a sixth grader who joined the soccer team thanks to his mother, who thought she would pay 300,000 won to join the soccer team for the first time.
But the tragedy happened on a night when the children were deeply asleep after an away game in March 2003. As soon as Jang-ho went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, a loud roar suddenly rang out in the camp, and it quickly burned up. Jang-ho's face and body caught fire in an instant, and Jang-ho fell unconscious without escaping. Only five children managed to escape the building, and 20 children could not escape the camp.
At that time, the camp was a single-story brick house made of slate, and the ceiling insulation was made of Styrofoam and plywood, so it caught fire quickly, and a large amount of toxic gases were released. There was only one way out, a window, but it was impossible to get out because it was blocked by security bars. As a result, the children used their bases to drill ventilators, and the upper-grade children evacuated from the lower-grade children who were small in size. However, eight children, including the sixth grade, who were unable to get out of the building to evacuate their younger siblings, died in the fire.
Of the children taken to the hospital, nine were the final victims of the accident, including additional deaths, and the lives of the rest of the children were in a critical situation. Surviving children expressed their feelings of childhood at the time, saying, "'Shameful, sadness, despair, and sorry are overlapped.'" Jang-ho, who lost consciousness at the scene, was the last remaining survivor in the hospital and received intensive care treatment in the intensive care unit for 40% third-degree burns of his whole body. Jang-ho's mother, who recalled the time, said, `All I could think about was that I wanted to die if I could save it.' Jang-ho underwent 10 major surgeries in a year and overcame the crisis of death several times. Baek Ji-young eventually sobbed and Park Byung-eun also shed tears when a video of Jang-ho lying in a hospital bed with burns made it difficult to recognize his face at the time.
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The 13-year-old Jang-ho was able to endure a hard time because of his dream of soccer. Tubatu Subin "If it were me, I would have collapsed indefinitely. I'm cool and respectful that I was able to endure my passion for my dream." Standing in front of the camera, Yoon Jang-ho was a young man about the same age as Son Heung-min. Jang-ho, who ran to the field after barely recovering his health, calmly revealed that he realized he could no longer play soccer with shortness of breath, pain in his legs, and his crippled body after losing three toes, stimulating the listeners' tear glands.
After the incident, elementary school camps across the country were closed, and Cheonan Elementary School abolished the soccer department, so children could no longer play soccer. However, the bereaved families suggested the re-establishment by delivering soccer supplies and donations, thinking that protecting the children's dreams is what the dead children want, and Cheonan Elementary School's soccer department was re-established. The emblem of the current Cheonan-cho soccer team is embroidered with nine stars, which was a symbol honoring nine children who became stars in the sky. The last survivor, Yoon Jang-ho, told his friends who passed away first that `Let's meet again later and play soccer in a painless place. I'm doing well.," he said, unable to hide his tears.
On this day, Soobin said "It's my first time meeting this incident, but I didn't know there was a heartbreaking story" and Baek Ji-young said "Wouldn't it be a great reward for those who suffered from the pain to convey a message through an event that they didn't know well?" followed by Jang Hyun-sung, Jang Sung-gyu, and Jang Do-yeon saying "Shouldn't we be more interested in the lives of survivors?" leaving a deep lingering feeling.
Meanwhile, 'Kkomu' is a program that conveys one-on-one how three 'storytellers' feel while studying on their own to their respective 'story friends' and broadcasts on SBS every Thursday evening at 10:20 p.m.
supremez@sportschosun.com
