A sea of wailing mourners filled the streets of Seoul for the funeral yesterday of former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun, whose suicide six days earlier amid a deepening corruption probe plunged the nation into grief and anger.
Heads bowed, thousands took part in a solemn ceremony in the courtyard of the 14th-century Gyeongbok Palace before the hearse carrying Roh’s body headed to a grassy plaza outside City Hall for emotional public rites attended by a reported 500,000 people. Riot police later moved in as the crush of mourners delayed the hearse from leaving the capital.
Police dispatched some 21,000 officers to quell any protests by Roh supporters who accuse conservative political opponents led by South Korean President Lee Myung-bak of driving the liberal former leader to his death with the bribery investigation.
PHOTO: AP
Roh, 62, died last Saturday after throwing himself off a cliff behind his home in the southern village of Bongha. Roh, president from 2003 to last year, recently had been questioned about allegations he and his family accepted US$6 million in bribes during his presidency.
He denied the bribery accusations, but they weighed heavily on a man who prided himself on his record as a “clean” politician in a country struggling to shake a deeply rooted culture of corruption.
The suicide stunned the nation of 49 million, where the outspoken Roh — a self-taught former human rights lawyer who swept into office on a populist tide — was celebrated as a leader for the people and was a favorite among young South Koreans for standing up to Washington.
Though many were critical of his anti-establishment ways, others rallied around his efforts to promote democracy, fight corruption and facilitate rapprochement with North Korea.
Roh “lived a life dedicated entirely to human rights, democracy and fight against authoritarianism,” South Korean Prime Minister Han Seung-soo said at the palace funeral. “Our people won’t forget what you accomplished for the country and the people despite a number of hardships.”
Last weekend, Roh supporters refused to let Han and others from the ruling Grand National Party pay their respects in Bongha, with some dousing politicians with water and pelting them with eggs.
Roh supporters have called the probe against him “political revenge,” and posters accusing Lee of driving Roh to his death plastered the walls of one Seoul subway station.
“I’ve never been so ashamed of being a citizen of this country — a country that kills its own president,” said Won Seung-tae, 52, of Seoul. “It feels like we’ve lost all respect in pushing each other to extremes.”
Opposition lawmakers jeered Lee as he and his wife approached the altar to pay their respects.
“President Lee Myung-bak, apologize!” opposition lawmaker Baek Won-woo yelled, jumping to his feet and cursing Lee before security guards hauled him away. “This is political revenge, a political murder!”
A somber Lee looked back momentarily and hesitated before laying a white chrysanthemum on the altar and bowing before Roh’s portrait.
At City Hall, sobbing mourners wore yellow paper hats with images of Roh and waved yellow handkerchiefs as they watched the funeral on large monitors. The plaza was awash in yellow, Roh’s campaign color.
“I respected him. He was a person who never compromised with injustice,” said Chang Min-ki, 30, a yellow scarf tied around his neck. “I feel like I’ve lost everything.”
The funeral procession began at dawn in Roh’s hometown. Villagers lined Bongha’s streets as the hearse blanketed with white chrysanthemums departed for Seoul.
More than 2,500 were invited to a formal ceremony in the courtyard of the stately palace in the heart of ancient Seoul, where Roh’s portrait sat on a bed of 1 million chrysanthemums laid in the shape of a Rose of Sharon, South Korea’s national flower.
Buddhist monks and Catholic nuns chanted prayers as part of the multi-faith ceremony.
Roh’s ashes were to return to his village to be buried with a small gravestone as he wished.
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
RSS