Thinking Inside the Box

A crazy new trend is emerging in South Korea where people are paying money to lie inside a casket which is later nailed shut for 15 minutes. The mock funeral is said to make participants reflect on their lives and think about their future. Talk about putting things in perspective! I can see how this would be psychologically and emotionally exhilarating - tapping into a part of your mind that we generally ignore. In Western culture, we have a funny way of simply ignoring the fact that at some point - we will die. I wonder if this would have a lasting effect on one's perspective of life and death. I've sourced the article from the Globe & Mail and placed it below.

CHUNGJU, SOUTH KOREA -- After solemnly reading their wills, seven perfectly healthy university students climb into caskets in a dimly lit hall.

Workers nail the coffins shut, then sprinkle dirt on top as the lights are switched off and a dirge is played. Muffled sobs can be heard from some of the coffins. About 15 minutes later, they are opened and the five men and two women are “reborn.”

The mock funeral, which aims to get participants to map out a better future by reflecting on their past, is part of a new trend in South Korea called “well-dying.” It's an extension of “well-being,” an English phrase adopted into Korean to describe a growing interest in healthier, happier lives.

Experts see the well-being and well-dying trend as a sign that South Koreans have grown affluent enough to be able to consider quality-of-life issues. Others dismiss the fake funerals simply as moneymaking ventures.

Korea Life Consulting, which staged the mock funeral for the students, charges up to $325 per customer.

“I felt really, really scared inside the coffin and also thought a lot about my mom,” said Lee Hye-jung, a 23-year-old woman studying engineering. “I'll live differently from now on so as not to have any regrets about my life.”

Ko Min-su, who heads Korea Life Consulting, said about 50,000 people have taken part in his fake funerals since they began in 2004. Most are in their 30s and 40s. His company has eight offices around the country.

Some leading firms see “well-dying” as a way of improving employees' job performance. In 2006, Samsung Electronics, South Korea's largest firm, enrolled 900 workers from one of its factories. The experience makes workers more efficient, said Kim Hee-jin, a personnel manager at Samsung.

At the students' funeral at a mountain resort in Chungju, 150 kilometres south of Seoul, photos of celebrities who died prematurely, including Diana, Princess of Wales, and John F. Kennedy, were hung on the walls.

Participants take a class on the meaning of life, pose for portrait photos to be used at the service and write wills as if they have three days to live.

“Mom and Dad! Everything I have now is from you, your teaching and your love. I'm so sorry that I have to leave you behind,” said Hwang Yun-jin, a 29-year-old mechanical-engineering major, crying as she read her will aloud.

Korea Life Consulting's Mr. Ko, a 40-year-old former insurance agent, launched the business after realizing the fragility of life following the deaths of his two older brothers in plane and car accidents. “Everyone can die unexpectedly,” he said.