Because it’s there

If you spend any time in Korea, whether hiking or just on the subway, you will inevitably see a group of older people together decked out in brand-new mountain climbing gear with stuffed backpacks and walking poles. It all seems pretty silly when you consider the low degree of difficulty of hiking mountains here, but some people are quite serious and join groups of like-minded people to travel the globe and climb its famous mountains.

None, of course, are more famous than Everest, where two Korean climbers recently died while attempting a new route to the peak.

A memorial ceremony was held on the 27th at 11 am at Seoul National University Hospital’s chapel for Oh Hui-jun (37) and Lee Hyeon-ju (35), both of Gold Win Korea and who died while on an expedition to the peak of Mt. Everest for a 30th anniversary.

One mountaineer who participated in the ceremony lamented their deaths, saying “They were the representative mountain experts of Korea and after Park Yeong-seok, Eom Hong-gil, and Han Wang-yong were runners into the new century.”

On the 16th at 1:50 am (local time), the two men were staying at the northwest side of base camp 4 (7800 meters above sea level) on Mt. Everest when suddenly they were overtaken by a rockfall and an avalanche.