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(3rd LD) Tearful S. Koreans pack streets on former President Roh's funeral
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, May 29 (Yonhap) -- Tens of thousands of grieving South Koreans filled the streets of central Seoul Friday, lingering long after the funeral of former President Roh Moo-hyun, a liberal leader who strove to challenge authoritarianism and regional divisions.
A sea of yellow, the color Roh used for his 2002 presidential election, engulfed the capital city as mourners waved yellow balloons and sent yellow paper planes to the air. "We love you, president!" they shouted.
At least 180,000 gathered at the Seoul Plaza to attend a memorial rite wishing for the deceased's peace, according to police, the largest crowd since anti-U.S. beef rallies at the same place last year. Roh's supporters estimated 300,000 to 400,000.
Roh died Saturday at the age of 62, leaping from a mountainside precipice above his rural hometown amid a bribery investigation that tarnished his legacy as an anti-corruption fighter. He denied the accusations of corruption but was put under pressure as the prosecution probe dragged on.
He served as the country's leader from 2003 to 2008.
A state-funeral was held at an ancient royal palace in Seoul, attended by some 3,000 dignitaries including President Lee Myung-bak, former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam, lawmakers and diplomats in Seoul.
"We have gathered here today to bid goodbye to former President Roh Moo-hyun who spent his life fighting for human rights, democracy and the end of authoritarianism -- he was a true 'people's president,'" Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said in his memorial address at Gyeongbok Palace.
Her voice breaking in tears, Roh's former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook said, "We are sorry, we love you, we were happy."
"Rest in peace," she said in closing.
After watching the ceremony on large screens outside the palace, thousands marched down the streets of Seoul, some shouting at the police lined up to keep the crowd in check. Some 21,000 riot police ringed the area to prevent any protests by Roh supporters who claim the incumbent administration drove him to death with a politically motivated probe.
"You are a political murderer!" Baek Won-woo, an opposition party lawmaker, shouted at President Lee as he was offering a flower to the deceased during the funeral. He was immediately dragged out by security guards. The main opposition Democratic Party has been mounting calls for an official apology from Lee and his party for Roh's suicide.
Roh's sudden death triggered a mass outpouring of grief for days across the nation, which was divided during Roh's presidency over his bold policies challenging regionalism, polarization of wealth and a reconciliatory approach toward North Korea.
Millions of mourners have paid their respects at some 140 altars set up nationwide with authorities lining up riot police in Seoul and elsewhere to prevent the gatherings from turning into anti-government demonstrations.
Some one million people have visited the memorial site in Roh's home village Bongha, where the former president retired after leaving office in February last year, according to officials of the funeral committee.
"I miss him so much already," said college student Kim Eun-joo, who attended the funeral with other members of Roh's support group Nosamo, a Korean acronym for "people who love Roh." "I just hope he remembers how much we loved him and how much we regret having ever doubted him."
A massive memorial rite was held at the Seoul Plaza and thousands trailed on foot behind Roh's hearse and the convoy as it slowly moved out of Seoul for cremation. The police were pushed back as mourners spilled into the streets, leaving only one lane open for the convoy.
Roh's body will be cremated and the ashes will be taken back for burial near Bongha, about 450 kilometers southeast of Seoul, as he requested in a note left to family just before his death.
"I lay awake with frustration at night because he is gone and I do not know whom to blame for his death," said office worker Moon Han-yong. "I just never thought he was suffering enough to take his own life. I am so sad, so angry."
Born to a poor family in Gimhae, southeastern Korea, Roh became a self-taught human rights lawyer who earned fame for representing college students detained and tortured by counterespionage officers in 1981 for studying leftist theories.
Especially popular among the younger generation for his bold reformist beliefs, Roh was elected president in 2002 with supporters using the new medium of the Internet to create a loyal following.
Just 15 months after he returned to Bongha Village, Roh became mired in a bribery scandal involving US$6 million he and his family had allegedly received from a wealthy businessman. Becoming the third former president in the nation to appear before prosecutors, Roh denied personal ties to the scandal.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)
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