PHOTOS 'Beacon of Korea's progressivism' laid to rest

A mourner touches the monitor featuring late lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan at Severance Hospital in Sinchon, Seoul, Thursday. / Yonhap

• Published Jul 27, 2018 2:53 PM KST
• Updated Jul 27, 2018 8:18 PM KST

A funeral service for lawmaker Roh Hoe-chan was held Friday at the National Assembly with thousands of participants, including legislators, family members and supporters, bidding farewell to the iconic, progressive politician.

Assembly Speaker Moon Hee-sang hosted the service for the lawmaker, who jumped to his death earlier this week amid a political funding probe.

"You were a pathfinder and the symbol of progressive politics,” Moon said in his eulogy. “You did not hesitate to fight against huge authority for justice. As your final message showed, you felt pain over workers' lives and rejoiced at the victory of the socially underprivileged.

"Although you've stopped here, the values and spirit that you pursued will resolutely continue."

Roh, 61, the floor leader of the minor opposition Justice Party, committed suicide Monday amid a probe into allegations that he received illegal political funds.

Roh, long known for his clean image, was widely popular for his pithy sound bites and sharp criticism of the establishment.

He recently faced an investigation into allegations he took 50 million won ($44,333) from an aide to a power blogger, known by the nickname Druking, who is at the center of an online opinion-rigging scandal.

He had denied the allegations. But in a suicide note, he said that although he took 40 million won, it had nothing to do with illicit favors.

Roh is known to have participated in pro-democracy movements against authoritarian President Park Chung-hee in 1973, when he was a high school student.

After entering politics in 2004, he devoted his life to promoting the rights of working people and developing progressive politics.

Roh helped the Justice Party gain public support when he served as floor leader of the party from 2016-18. Last week, the party's approval rating rose to 10 percent, a poll showed.

Thousands of people from various sectors bid their farewell to Roh during the five-day mourning period, according to party officials.

"Roh's political career was about representing the voices of the underprivileged and changing their lives," Lee Jeong-mi, the chief of the Justice Party, said in her eulogy. (Yonhap)