Kim's funeral arrangements likely to be fixed Wednesday

By Lee Chi-dong

SEOUL, Aug. 18 (Yonhap) -- The government is expected to decide the format and procedures of late former President Kim Dae-jung's funeral on Wednesday, a day after his death, officials said.

"The government plans to decide the format of the funeral as early as on
Wednesday at a Cabinet meeting," an official at the Ministry of Public
Administration and Security said after a meeting of relevant ministers, presided
over by Prime Minister Han Seung-soo.
The government and the bereaved family have been consulting on arrangements for
Kim's funeral and where to bury his body, most likely at either the National
Cemetery in Seoul or in Daejeon, about 160km south of the capital, officials
said.
President Lee Myung-bak ordered relevant officials to make full preparations for
the funeral to reflect the people's mourning for the man whom he called a "great
political leader."
The prime minister said that the government will hold the funeral "with the
utmost courtesy."
Under a related law, a former president is usually given a "state funeral" or a
"people's funeral."
A state funeral entails up to nine days of mourning fully sponsored by the
government. National flags are flown at half-mast throughout the period, and the
funeral day is declared a national holiday.
A state funeral was held only once in the country's modern history, when
President Park Chung-hee was assassinated while in office in 1979.
In a people's funeral, the government pays for part of the costs and national
flags are at half-mast only on the final day of the seven-day mourning period.
The funeral day is not a national holiday.
Most recently, a people's funeral was given to former President Roh Moo-hyun, who
committed suicide in May.
Once the details are decided, the government, aides, and the bereaved family will
form a committee.