Goodbye, Peter Pan: a late father's last dream for his autistic son hits the screen

"In a little while, I will be gone. I have a son who can't live without me. Even if I go, I want my son to stay alive on this Earth."

That was the one wish of Jeon Kyung-chul, a writer known in South Korea as the "Peter Pan dad". He raised his son, who has severe autism, on his own. Jeon died in September, and on Thursday a documentary about his last months was shown to an audience in Seoul.

What happened?

The 80-minute film, Goodbye, Peter Pan, was made by public broadcaster MBC. It follows the six months in which Jeon, already diagnosed with terminal liver cancer, worked to set up a village called "Neverland" and a Peter Pan Foundation for people with the most severe developmental disabilities.

Director Choi Cheol-hoon said at a special screening at a Seoul cinema that Jeon had asked him to record the whole process. Even if he failed, Jeon reasoned, someone else could see what he did and try again.

The audience wept quietly through scenes of Jeon alone after leaving his son at a care centre, and of a two-day trip he took with his son, thinking it might be their last.

Why are people so moved?

Jeon compared his son, whose intellect stopped at the level of a young child, to Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up. "It's romantic, isn't it?" he once said.

Before his death, he put all his assets into the account of a public-interest organisation. He also asked a publisher to make his book, also titled Goodbye, Peter Pan, within a month, with all royalties going to the foundation. Readers pushed it to number one on the bestseller list, many saying they were "laying a brick for Neverland".

The story first reached the public through MBC's investigative programme in March and July.

What's next?

The foundation's organisers have submitted incorporation papers to the Ministry of Health and Welfare and are waiting for approval. If it comes, they plan to find land in the Gyeonggi or Chungcheong area, outside the city but not far from a hospital, for the first Neverland village.

The plan is single-occupancy rooms that protect the safety and dignity of residents even without family caregivers. Villages two and three are meant to follow.

The documentary will air on MBC TV at a later date.