By Do Je-hae
Staff Reporter
A state funeral service for former President Kim Dae-jung will take place at 2 p.m. Sunday at the National Assembly in Yeouido, Seoul, in recognition of his contribution to national development.
Kim will be buried at the National Cemetery in Dongjak-dong, southern Seoul, after a six-day mourning period.
The decision came in a Cabinet meeting at the Central Government Complex, Wednesday, in a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Han Seung-soo.
Kim will be the first former South Korean head of state to be honored with a state funeral. In 1979, the nation’s first state funeral was held for President Park Chung-hee who was assassinated while in office.
``There were some arguments over a state funeral for the former President in consideration of funerals for other ex-heads of state. But the government finally decided on a state funeral for the late Kim to commemorate his contributions to the nation and to promote national unity,’’ a ranking government official said on condition of anonymity.
The government and Kim’s aides differed over the formality of the funeral for former President Kim. His family members and supporters hoped for a state funeral _ which goes against precedent _ in consideration of Kim’s lifelong dedication to democracy, inter-Korean reconciliation and human rights.
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.
The funerals for the first President Syngman Rhee and Yun Po-sun were held privately.
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.
The government called for a combination of the two types of funerals by keeping the status of a state funeral but reducing the mourning period to six days. Under this scenario, a national holiday will be declared on the funeral day, which falls on Sunday.
As for the location for burial, Rep. Park Jie-won of the main opposition Democratic Party said it is reflective of Kim’s dedication to parliamentary democracy.
``Based on consultations with the government, we have decided to receive mourners in the parliamentary grounds starting today. We will move his body there once a lying-in-state site is established,’’ the former presidential chief of staff said.
``We believe that the Assembly is the right place to bid farewell to a statesman who spent most of his career as a lawmaker,’’ said Huh Yong-beom, the spokesman of National Assembly speaker Kim Hyong-o.
The former President was elected to the legislature six times throughout his career spanning 46 years. Kim was sworn in as the nation’s president on Feb. 25, 1998, at the Assembly.
The government will also build an official memorial altar for incense-burning as a tribute to the 2000 Nobel Prize laureate.
The Assembly will open to public mourners for 24 hours starting today, Huh added.
Earlier Wednesday, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo visited the Severance Hospital with 10 ministers, including Public Administration Minister Lee Dal-gon, to pay his respects at a temporary memorial altar for former President Kim.
``The government will display the highest level of respect for Kim’s funeral,’’ Han said.