By Lee Hyo-sik
Hundreds of mourners paid their respects to the late North Korean defector Hwang Jang-yop, the architect of “juche” or self-reliance ideology, at the Asan Medical Center in Seoul, Thursday, before his body was put to rest at the National Cemetery in Daejeon.
Former President Kim Young-sam, an honorary chairman of the committee organizing Hwang’s funeral, Unification Minister Hyun In-taek, bereaved family members, North Korean defectors and ordinary citizens attended the memorial ceremony for the former mentor of the current North Korean leader Kim Jong-il.
Hwang died of a heart attack at age 87 at his house in southern Seoul on Oct. 10. He defected to the South in 1997 after serving in a series of high-level posts in the North, including speaker of the Supreme People’s Assembly and a secretary of the ruling Workers’ Party.
Since his defection, Hwang had been a vocal critic of Kim and the North Korean regime, facing continuous threats of retaliation from Pyongyang.
The memorial service began at 10 a.m., with all those present pledging allegiance to the nation and paying a silent tribute to the deceased.
“It is heartbreaking to see a great man like Hwang pass away when there is so much work for him to do. He should have stayed with us longer for the democratization of North Korea and unification between the South and North,” former National Assembly speaker Pak Gwan-yong said in a eulogy.
Rep. Lee Hoi-chang, who chairs the conservative opposition Liberty Forward Party, also said thanks to Hwang’s courage, South Korea and the rest of the world were able to see the grim realities of North Korea, praising him as a symbol of Korea’s desire for unification.
Ceremony attendees then heard his posthumous poem and watched memorial footage of Hwang while he was alive.
As a final step, former President Kim and other key figures laid flowers and offered incense at his memorial altar.
Following the hour-long service, his body was transported to the National Cemetery in Daejeon for burial. He was buried alongside fallen soldiers from the 1950-1953 Korean War, proven patriots and state medal awardees. Among those buried there are Korean marathon hero Sohn Ki-jung and former World Health Organization (WHO) secretary general Lee Jong-wook.
Kim Sung-min, head of Free North Korea Radio and a spokesman for Hwang’s funeral committee, said Hwang will be buried temporarily in Daejeon. “When the two Koreas become one nation, we will bring him to Pyongyang.” Hwang had said he wanted to be
buried in his hometown in North Korea.
A total of 5,000 people paid tribute to the late Hwang at the Asan Medical Center from Sunday night through Thursday morning.