People look at notes and letters posted on the wall of a subway station beside Deoksu Palace, Tuesday, where a memorial altar for the late former President Roh Moo-hyun has been set up. / Korea Times Photo by Shim Hyun-chul |
 By Kwon Mee-yoo
Staff Reporter
Mourners ― from university students to office workers and housewives ― are streaming in droves to Deoksu Palace where a makeshift altar has been set up for the late former President Roh Moo-hyun.
And the masses aren't bothered by having to wait for up to five hours in the relatively hot early summer weather for their turn before Roh's photos. ``They are coming 24 hours a day. During the day, they wait five hours and about two to three hours at night,'' said one volunteer who was handing out bottles of water to mourners.
Countless yellow, white and black ribbons were hung beside the long line of people surrounding the palace wall. Citizens posted notes ― some on cardboard others on post-its ― wishing for the repose of Roh. Many hit out at the Lee Myung-bak administration, which they claimed orchestrated a politically motivated investigation of the former President and his family over the bribery scandal that enveloped the last days of his life.
Office workers ― many of them in black suits and neckties ― and university students constituted the largest portion of the mourners.
``I came here yesterday but couldn't stop myself coming again,'' said a citizen who declined to be named Tuesday morning. He paid his respects by placing a white chrysanthemum before walking off to his place of work.
Others wrote messages to Roh in guest books or on sheets of paper posted on the wall surrounding the palace, the nearby subway station and phone booths. A civic group is also collecting signatures calling for the impeachment of President Lee over the suicide.
Citizens appeared to be taking their turn to pay homage in an orderly manner, according to volunteers.
Kim Ji-hun, 29, one of the volunteers, said the most important thing was maintaining order. ``We don't want this memorial service to turn into a demonstration or violent protest,'' he said.
Thousands of riot policemen and hundreds of police buses are surrounding the area ― from the palace and Seoul Plaza to the Gwanghwamun intersection ― to prevent anti-government rallies. Meanwhile, the police withdrew police buses Tuesday afternoon, which had surrounded the altar area since Saturday. ``We removed the wall of buses since there is a low possibility of demonstrations or incidents,'' a police officer said.
Kim Hye-jin, 28, an office worker who visited the altar after work Monday, was forced to wait for hours in a long line stretching past the Seoul Museum of Art, but refused to be deterred.
``I think Roh was the President of ordinary people and thus this altar voluntarily established by citizens is more meaningful and the right place to pay my condolences to him,'' she said.
But the mood at the official memorial altar at the Seoul Museum of History (SMH) 10 minutes away from the palace was an altogether different story.
The altar is set up in the lobby of the museum and honor guards are distributing flowers to visitors, with the government contracting a mutual aid company to take care of its operation.
The noticeable difference is the much shorter line of mourners. ``I visited both altars but this place is too clean and serious,'' said Yoo Eun-jung, 23, a university student. ``At first, I thought this altar was only open for high officials and other VIPs.''
Most political figures, foreign delegates and business leaders who were unable to go to Bonghwa Village in South Gyeongsang Province attended the museum altar to pay their condolences.
Another citizen, Sohn Gi-won, 46, said, ``Though I was not a supporter of Roh at the election, I am confident that he was the President who advanced democracy in Korea. I am sorry that he made such an extreme choice.''
A record number of mourners are expected to pay homage to the late President across the nation, with the total expected to top the previous record of two million set for the late President Park Chung-hee's state funeral in 1979.
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meeyoo@koreatimes.co.kr
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