Man Weeps As He Meets Deceased Wife One More Time Through Virtual Reality

• Kim’s wife died due to a critical illness, leaving him to raise their five kids on his own.
• The TV documentary show “I Met You” spent six months creating the reunion. An actor was hired to imitate the wife’s voice and an avatar was made of her.
• Some people think the reunion didn’t help Kim because it will prevent him from moving on.

Would you grab the chance to see a deceased loved one again, by whatever means? 51-year old Kim Jung Soo was granted this wish when he was able to “reunite” with his late wife with the help of virtual reality.

Kim was featured in the second season of the South Korean TV documentary show “I Met You,” which shows reunions between South Koreans and their deceased loved ones via VR technology. Kim’s wife died due to a critical illness, leaving him to raise their five kids on his own.

Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation (MBC) spent six months to create the reunion. An actor was hired to imitate the wife’s voice and the network’s Design Center made an avatar of her.

Kim’s family had mixed reactions with the idea. His second daughter Jong-yun supports the project.

“He would kiss her from time to time when working, when eating, or when watching TV. Even when my mother was sick and lost her hair, my father would say that she was pretty and carried her around,” she said.

But his eldest daughter was not on board with it initially. She thought that it would make her father struggle to move on from the past if he “meets” his wife one more time.

Kim explained his decision to his children to make them understand why he wants to be featured on the documentary.

“It is my last wish, that’s why we decided to allow him to meet Mum again,” Jong-bin explained.

One of his daughters cried as she witnessed the “reunion” between her parents.

Watch the video:

The story was posted on social media, including 9gag. Those who watched the video have mixed reactions about the reunion. A lot of them feel that it really didn’t help Kim from his grief.

User muuchan said:

“I know it’s in good intentions but isn’t this more heartbreaking for the guy?”

User levi_0_sa agreed, saying:

“I would never suggest anyone to that. Time to let go was when they passed. Holding onto memories is not holding on to any hope for interaction, which I believe would hurt far more, ripping open healing wounds, resetting the grieving process.”

“What more, lying to yourself and dishonoring the memory of one so dear with a facsimile, however precise it may be. It’s not what cherishing someone means.”

While others think this is what Kim needs. User winemuch said:

“A last good bye is sometimes what ppl need, a closure.”

User sleeper 27 thinks the same, saying:

“For us who lost love ones and being far away at the time of her death. this can help us get closure.”

Some condemn the show for “exploiting” the situation.

User ethrzcty said:

“It’s good intentions but goddamn is this cruel. His last memory of his wife was genuine. They replaced it with a lie. A beautiful lie, but still a lie.”

User bryde also thinks it was a bad idea.

“This was already a bad idea when the mother was reunited with her dead child. As nice as the idea is, you’re not helping them. Not only are you creating a fake memory, but part of the grief is that you walk through the phases to arrive at “acceptance” at some point, whenever that may be and this is probably doing the exact opposite.”

Whether this helped Kim or not is something that only he will know now.