The mentally ill. The disabled. The elderly. The coronavirus hit hardest where the frail gathered

SEOUL - But for the notoriety of the killer that claimed his life, the 63-year-old man's death at a rural hospital may have gone completely unnoticed.

After two decades confined to a psych ward, he had no known family, friends or other ties to the outside world - no one to be notified, no one to mourn or claim his ashes. At just over 90 pounds at the time of his passing, the man, whose name has not been disclosed, barely took up any space in this world.

His lonely death in the early hours of Feb. 19 became a matter of urgent public interest when he was posthumously confirmed to have the novel coronavirus, becoming the first killed by the illness in South Korea. Six others who'd been housed alongside him at the psych ward