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ROK police brace for ex-president's funeral

(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-29 10:42

SEOUL: Police in the Republic of Korea (ROK) yesterday spread a tight security blanket over the capital amid fears that the funeral of former president Roh Moo-Hyun could erupt into violence.

ROK workers decorate flowers around a portrait of former ROK president Roh Moo-hyun for his funeral ceremony as honor guards pass by at the Gyeongbok palace in Seoul yesterday. Thousands of people will gather today in Seoul's historic royal palace for Roh's funeral. AP [China Daily]

Roh threw himself off a cliff near his retirement home on Saturday after being questioned by prosecutors as a suspect in a corruption probe.

Scores of police buses were parked bumper-to-bumper in the city center. Riot police with shields stood guard at corners and subway exits.

Police declined comment on security operations. Yonhap news agency said more than 20,000 riot police will be mobilized when the funeral procession rolls through the city centre to an historic palace today.

Despite low popularity ratings when he ended his five-year term in 2008, the former liberal leader's dramatic suicide has sparked a wave of national mourning and a heavy police presence to forestall protests against his conservative successor.

The committee organizing the funeral said that as of yesterday morning, some three million mourners had paid tribute at altars across the country, including one million who visited Roh's home village of Bongha in the southeast.

Outside one altar in central Seoul, thousands of mourners - including company employees, housewives pushing baby strollers and schoolchildren - queued to lay white chrysanthemums in front of Roh's portraits.

Related readings:  Roh's suicide puts South Korean president in corner  Skorea President to personally pay respects to Roh  SKorea to host funeral for Roh on Friday  Key dates in life of SKorea's Roh  Death fails to kill Roh's popularity

Messages of condolence and regret were plastered on walls, many of them accusing the current government of driving Roh to suicide through a politically motivated investigation.

The government says it did not interfere in the probe.

Prosecutors questioned Roh on April 30 about some $6 million which his family members received from a wealthy shoe manufacturer.

He never admitted personal wrongdoing but apologized on his family's behalf.

Roh, a self-educated lawyer and rights activist, had come to office with a promise to end widespread corruption.

He was credited with easing authoritarianism and advancing democracy but was reviled by conservative news media.

Websites have been flooded with anti-government postings, leading to concern that the funeral would spark protests.

The funeral ceremony will start at 11 am (10 am Beijing time) in the courtyard of the imposing Gyeongbok palace, led jointly by Roh's prime minister Han Myung-Sook and the incumbent Prime Minister Han Seung-Soo. His body will be cremated south of Seoul and the ashes taken for burial near his retirement home.

As a national funeral, the ceremony will draw some 2,500 official mourners including President Lee Myung-Bak, Roh's predecessor Kim Dae-Jung, diplomats and other dignitaries.

AFP