Around 500 people attended a memorial service last week for a Korean international student who was killed in Brisbane at the weekend. The Afternoon of Remembrance was held by the Korean Society of Queensland at Wickham Park in Brisbane’s CBD, where the body of 22 year old Eunji Ban was discovered on Sunday morning.
“Everybody is outraged and just stricken at the horror of this event”
It is believed that Ban was attacked on her walk to work as a hotel cleaner. A 19-year-old, Alex Reuben McEwan, has been charged with her murder.
Ban had arrived in Queensland to study English on a youth exchange just six weeks earlier. Her English teacher, Lesley Richardson, said that her death has affected everyone.
“Everybody is outraged and just stricken at the horror of this event,” she said.
Tenny Kyungtai Kim of the Korean Society said that Ban had been “diligent and hard-working” in her learning.
“Eunji arrived full of aspirations and excitement, keen to explore, experience and learn a great deal in a place far from home,” she said. “She had quickly become accustomed to the Australian way of life, forging many friendships and committed in her attempts to learn a new language and culture.”
The Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Graham Quirk told Ban’s family that “the city of Brisbane and its people grieve with you”.
In an earlier statement, Quirk said that he was proud of Brisbane’s inclusive, multicultural community.
“I am sickened by any form of violence against local residents or any visitors to our city,” he said. “These students contribute so much to the city… They help create a cosmopolitan, vibrant way of life,” he added.
There are around 75,000 international students in Brisbane, including 4,500 from Korea.
English Unlimited Brisbane, where Ban had been studying, said in a statement that Ban was “kind, motivated and a beautiful person”.
“She loved studying and was overjoyed at her progress in learning English,” it continued.
The English college pledged to do “whatever is in our power to ensure our students continue to have full confidence in completing the rest of their studies and journey in Australia.”
