Prime minister to call Cabinet meeting to discuss Roh's funeral

SEOUL, May 24 (Yonhap) -- Prime Minister Han Seung-soo was to call a Cabinet
meeting Sunday to discuss the funeral of former President Roh Moo-hyun, whose
sudden has death shocked and dismayed the nation, an official said.

The Cabinet meeting will likely be used to arrange a people's funeral for Roh,
the senior government official said, requesting anonymity.
Roh's funeral is expected to be held in Bongha Village, his hometown where he
took his own life early Saturday morning by jumping off a mountain cliff.
In a suicide note, Roh told his family to cremate him and build a small monument
in the village.
According to custom, the South Korean government generally arranges a "state
funeral" or a "people's funeral" for former heads of state. The two are
distinguished by who is officially holding the funeral.
The government held a state funeral for Park Chung-hee, who ruled the country
from 1963 until his assassination by his intelligence aide in 1979, and arranged
a people's funeral in 2006 for Choi Kyu-ha, who served as acting president
between Park's death and the rise of a new military administration in 1980.
"I was called to attend the Cabinet meeting Sunday morning," the official said.
"I believe the meeting will discuss preparations to arrange a people's funeral."
hkim@yna.co.kr
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