hankyoreh

May 29.

The entire nation cried. Throughout a wave of yellow, endless tears and grief-filled lamentations flowed.

The people saw the late President Roh Moo-hyun off as he made his 800 km roundtrip from his hometown of Bongwha Village in Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do to Kyungbok Palace in Seoul.

At the former Jeollanam-do Provincial Office, the wellspring of the “Roh Craze” that made it possible for Roh to win in the 2002 presidential elections, about 100,000 yellow ribbons waved in the wind. While Roh’s funeral was taking place in Seoul, some 2,000 Gwangju citizens visited his memorial at the former Jeollanam-do Provincial Office, placing chrysanthemums on the altar and praying for peace for the departed. Office workers and merchants along Geumnam-no and Chungjang-no took breaks from work, gathering in small groups before the television with their eyes welling up.

Seo Jeong-hun, the secretary-general of the Gwangju Council of Citizens Movement, said given the special ties between Roh and Gwangju they had hoped to bury the deceased in a shrine in the May 18 Cemetery, but unfortunately, this will not happen. Nonetheless, the Gwangju-Jeollanam-do memorial committee has decided to maintain a Roh memorial in front of the old Provincial Hall to facilitate remembrances until May 31, when the funeral rites conclude. He said several groups will be meeting to praise Roh’s life and find ways to realize his will.

Meanwhile, a group of kindergarten students burned incense for him at a memorial in front of the Halla Gymnasium in Jeju. The people of Jeju-do, who have had a deep relationship with Roh ever since he offered an formal apology for the state violence directed against them during the suppression of the Jeju Uprising of April 3, 1948, have been engaged in several memorial activities. Jeju residents held a memorial ceremony in the plaza in front of Jeju City Hall at 7:00 p.m. Friday to recall Roh’s life and his relationship with Jeju.

In Busan, about 1,000 citizens memorialized Roh as they watched a live broadcast of Roh’s funeral in the square in front of Busan Station. By 3:00 p.m., an estimated 150,000 Busan citizens had come to pay their respects at official memorials in front of Busan Station and BEXCO.

In Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do, members of the group Gathering of Citizens who Love Roh Moo-hyun, who had been maintaining a memorial at Sangdang Park, left to attend the funeral in Seoul as other citizens kept the incense burning. Group members returned to Sangdang Park by 7:00 p.m. and held a heated report back and debate about the situation.

The memorializing in Daegu was passionate as well. Some 10,000 letters to the deceased were hung on the trees of the city’s Feb 28 Park.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]