Clinton to visit S. Korean embassy to pay tribute to Roh

By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, May 27 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit
the South Korean embassy here Thursday to pay tribute to former South Korean
President Roh Moo-hyun, the embassy said in a statement Wednesday.

The U.S. ambassador to South Korea, Kathleen Stephens, meanwhile will lead a U.S.
delegation to the funeral for Roh, scheduled for Friday in Seoul, according to
the embassy statement.
Roh jumped to his death Saturday while hiking with a bodyguard in his hometown of
Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, leaving behind a suicide note to express his
regret for "having caused so much pain to others." He asked for his body to be
cremated and for a small monument to be erected in his hometown.
The former president, who finished his five-year term early last year, had been
under investigation for alleged bribe-taking in a multi-million dollar scandal
that has surrounded members of his family.
Roh had maintained that he was not aware that his wife had taken money from a
wealthy businessman while in office.
U.S. President Barack Obama has expressed his condolences to the South Korean
people for the death of Roh.
"I was saddened by the news of the death of former President Roh Moo-hyun of the
Republic of Korea," Obama said in a statement. "During his tenure, President Roh
contributed to the strong and vital relationship between the United States and
the Republic of Korea. On behalf of the government of the United States, I offer
my condolences to his family and to the Korean people."
Clinton will visit the altar set up at the embassy early in the morning, the
embassy said.
Among the U.S. delegates to the funeral are Gen. Walter Sharp, commander of U.S.
forces in Korea, Alexander Arvizu, deputy assistant secretary of state for East
Asia and Pacific, Michael Green, a Georgetown University professor, and Victor
Cha, a Georgetown University professor and inaugural holder of the new Korea
chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Cha and Green worked closely with the Roh administration as senior director for
Asia affairs at the White House National Security Council under the previous Bush
administration.
The liberal Roh government had an awkward relationship with Bush while attempting
to reduce U.S. influence in South Korea, where 28,000 American forces still serve
as a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War.
hdh@yna.co.kr
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