(LEAD) S. Koreans bid goodbye to their former President Roh

(ATTN: RECASTS headline, lead; UPDATES throughout with details of funeral)
By Shin Hae-in
SEOUL, May 29 (Yonhap) -- Thousands of weeping South Koreans gathered in Seoul's
landmark royal palace Friday for the funeral of former President Roh Moo-hyun,
honoring him as a tireless challenger of the country's political establishment
and regionalism.

Waves of yellow, the color Roh used for his 2002 presidential election, engulfed
the streets outside the palace as mourners tied yellow ribbons on their arms and
necks in a show of respect to their late leader after a week of mourning.
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 served as the country's leader from 2003 to 2008.
"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 -- a true 'people's president' he was," Prime Minister Han
Seung-soo said in his memorial address. "We will strive to follow your last
wishes on reconciliation, unity and a better nation."
"President, we are sorry we made you suffer. We love you. Leave behind your
burden and rest in peace," said Roh's former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook, her
voice breaking in tears.
President Lee Myung-bak was among the crowd of some 3,000 attending the "people's
funeral" Friday, along with former Presidents Kim Dae-jung and Kim Young-sam,
lawmakers, diplomats in Seoul as well as ordinary citizens.
Those who could not enter the Gyeongbok Palace, the venue of the funeral near the
presidential house in central Seoul, watched the ceremony from a large screen
outside.
Many from the crowd were expected to march down to the Seoul Plaza where a
massive memorial rite will be held to wish the deceased a peaceful repose before
the hearse and the convoy head to Suwon, adjacent to Seoul, for cremation.
"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."
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 nationwide with
authorities lining up riot police in Seoul and elsewhere to prevent the
gatherings from turning into demonstrations against the Lee administration. Roh's
supporters blame Lee for launching what they see as a politically motivated
investigation against his predecessor. Local residents say some one million
people have visited the memorial site in Roh's hometown Bongha, where the former
president retired to after leaving office in February last year.
"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, who took a morning
leave from work to attend the ceremony. "I just never thought he was suffering
enough to take his own life. I am so sad, so angry."
Just 15 months after he returned to Bongha Village to take up the life of a
farmer, breaking precedent with other former heads of state, Roh, a self-taught
human rights lawyer, became mired in a bribery scandal involving US$6 million he
and his family allegedly received from a wealthy businessman. Roh vehemently
denied personal ties to the scandal.
In April, he became the third former president in the nation to appear before
prosecutors.
Roh's body will be cremated and the ashes will be taken back for burial near
Bongha, as he requested in a note left to family just before his death.
hayney@yna.co.kr
(END)