Largest State Funeral Planned for DJ Sunday
By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
Prime Minister Han Seung-soo will head a committee for organizing Korea's first state funeral Sunday for a former head of state to honor the late 2000 Nobel Peace Prize laureate Kim Dae-jung, according to officials Thursday.
"After consulting with Kim's bereaved family, we have confirmed a list of 2,371 dignitaries from all walks of life to take part in the committee for the funeral services," said Hwang In-pyeong, an official at the Ministry of Public Administration and Security.
"The government will cooperate in finalizing details for the service, including invitation lists and the procedure for the funeral."
The committee is the largest for a state funeral. The ceremony for former President Roh Moo-hyun, who died in May, saw an organization consisting of 1,383 representatives of various sectors of society.
Two vice speakers of the National Assembly, a Supreme Court justice, a Constitutional Court justice, the chairman of the Board of Audit and Inspection and the governor of South Jeolla Province will serve as vice chairs to the prime minister.
Additionally, former President Kim Young-sam and U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and 66 other prominent figures will serve as advisors.
Services for Kim will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday at the National Assembly, in honor of the late former President's life-long dedication to promoting parliamentary democracy. He was elected to the legislature six times. This is the first time that a state funeral will be held for a former head of state in front of the National Assembly.
A Catholic mass for Kim will be held at the Myeongdong Cathedral on Saturday.
Kim, who died Tuesday of pneumonia complications at 85, will be buried at the National Cemetery in Dongjak-dong, southern Seoul, after a six-day mourning period.
It is likely that his body will be buried between those of Korea's first President Syngman Rhee and Park Chung-hee, according to Jeong Jin-tae, chief of the National Cemetery.
A state funeral service, fully sponsored by the government, is a display of the highest level of respect for deceased head of states and other great figures of the nation.
In 1979, the nation's first state funeral was held for President Park Chung-hee who was assassinated while in office.
According to regulations, a state funeral entails up to nine days of mourning and is fully sponsored by the government. Flags are flown at half-mast throughout the period and the day of the funeral is declared a national holiday.
It has been routine for deceased former heads of states to be honored with a "people's funeral," making the exception granted to Kim controversial among some Koreans.
"The government must make a clear distinction between these two types of funerals and respect the principles that divide them," said Rep. Park Sun-young, spokeswoman of the right-wing Liberal Forward Party.
Former heads of state, including Roh Moo-hyun and Choi Kyu-ha, were honored in the form of a people's funeral, in which the government shoulders part of the costs and national flags are hung at half-mast on the final day of a seven-day mourning period.