(2nd LD) President Lee expresses condolence over Roh`s death

(ATTN: UPDATES with more information in paras 6-7; CHANGES slug)
By Byun Duk-kun
SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- President Lee Myung-bak expressed deep condolence over
the sudden death of his predecessor Roh Moo-hyun on Saturday, calling it a
national tragedy, his spokesman said.
"It is truly hard to believe what happened. It is a sad, tragic incident," the
president was quoted as saying.
"The president and Cheong Wa Dae are in complete shock and disbelief," the
spokesman for the presidential office, Lee Dong-kwan, told a press briefing.
The president was told that Roh was involved in an accident about 40 minutes
after the former president reportedly jumped from a cliff near his home at around
6:40 a.m., according to the spokesman. He later received a report on Roh's death
while he was in a summit meeting with the visiting president of the Czech
Republic, Vaclav Klaus.
"President Lee was shocked by the report," the spokesman said, "and ordered swift
and complete measures to deal with the situation."
The president's chief of staff, Chung Chung-kil, and his senior secretary of
political affairs Maeng Hyung-kyu were dispatched to Roh's home in Bongha
Village, some 450 kilometers south of Seoul, to offer the president's condolences
to Roh's family.
President Lee has canceled his scheduled appearance on a television program that
was to be broadcast nationwide while the government has postponed a fiscal policy
meeting previously slated for Sunday, according to Cheong Wa Dae officials.
Roh was pronounced dead at 9:30 a.m. at a hospital near his home in Bongha Village.
An initial report to the president said Roh talked to his bodyguard about the
people walking by beneath the cliff, a Cheong Wa Dae official said.
"And that is when he reportedly jumped, while the guard was looking down the
cliff," the official said, asking not to be identified.
Cheong Wa Dae will arrange a funeral for the former president after consulting
with his family, he said.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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