Sonia of Jayesslee posts touching tribute video to late grandpa who was Korean war veteran

Sonia of Jayesslee posts touching tribute video to late grandpa who was Korean war veteran
(Left) Sonia and Janice with their late grandfather. (Right) A South Korean flag was draped over the casket of the twins' late grandfather to honour him for his service in the Korean War.
PHOTO: Instagram/thesonilee

Since admitting to splitting with her ex-husband Andy Yang in May, Korean-Australian singer Sonia Lee has refrained from posting much about her family on Instagram, until yesterday (Aug 26). 

Sonia, one-half of the popular singing duo Jayesslee, uploaded a heartwarming video yesterday to pay tribute to her grandpa, who died on Aug 20. He had previously served in the Korean war before moving to Australia. 

The video, slightly over two minutes long, began with a clip of the elderly man showing her his sizeable stack of old lottery tickets, which he bought without fail every week. 

“I’ll keep going till I win,” he told Sonia in Korean, “until the day I die.” 

But perhaps what made this clip especially touching was his last two words —”for you”, an indication that he hoped to win the lottery for his granddaughters. 

A subsequent clip showed him looking visibly excited as he welcomed his great-grandchildren into his apartment, remarking: “You all came to see me.” The kids were then given a glimpse of their great-grandpa’s youth, when he used to be a policeman in South Korea. 

There was a picture of him adorned with medals, with the caption: "Grandpa went to be with God on Aug 20, 2021." 

The second half of the video showed the funeral, where his casket was covered with the South Korean flag in honour of his service to the country. 

Sonia also poignantly revealed that the family weren’t able to say goodbye to him in person due to Covid-19 restrictions, but were fortunately present at his funeral to send him off. 

[embed]https://www.instagram.com/p/CS88Ohxn0z3/[/embed]

‘I’m fortunate enough to say that I have no regrets’ 

In the caption of her Instagram post, Sonia shared that her grandpa died at the age of 94, a mere six years away from his promise to them that he would live to 100. 

Although she added that she’s “become familiar with the grief of losing a loved one”, she took comfort in the fact that she could bid goodbye to her beloved grandpa with no regrets, and was “forever privileged to have been the granddaughter of an incredible man who lived an honourable life”.

While recognising him as a “respected war veteran”, she also described him as a loving grandfather who “showered [his family] with his love”, who “never let [them] leave his house without a bag of cookies, drinks, kimchi, and tissue boxes”. 

At the end of her post, Sonia wrote: “We love you grandpa, rest in peace,” tagging her twin sister Janice’s Instagram handle @thejanicelee. 

ALSO READ: Rebecca Lim recalls World War II stories late grandpa shared, ahead of new English post-war local drama

claudiatan@asiaone.com 

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.