[현장연결] Former President Roh Tae-woo’s funeral ceremony… Observance at Olympic Park
The funeral ceremony of the late former President Roh Tae-woo, who served as the 13th president of the Republic of Korea, will be held at the Peace Square in Seoul Olympic Park.
The hearse entered a while ago, and now the event begins.
Let’s go to the scene.
[김부겸 / 장례위원회 위원장]
Today, we are leaving former President Roh Tae-woo here at the Olympic Park Peace Plaza.
President Roh Tae-woo successfully hosted the 1988 Seoul Olympics during his tenure.
It was the biggest Olympics in history, where the world came together for the first time in 12 years beyond the conflict of ideologies.
It was an opportunity to show the confidence that nothing is impossible to the people of Korea and the power of the Korean people to the people of the world.
You made a lot of effort for peace on the Korean Peninsula and for the reunification of the nation.
After the Special Declaration for National Self-sufficiency and Unification and Prosperity in 1988, he opened new horizons in northern diplomacy by establishing diplomatic ties with 45 countries, including the Soviet Union and China, for five years.
Based on this, the two Koreas joined the UN at the same time, adopted the basic agreement between the two Koreas, and made a joint declaration on the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
He also contributed to economic democratization by introducing the concept of land disclosure.
You have stabilized the housing of the working class and the middle class by supplying large-scale housing and greatly expanded public structures such as the National Pension.
Despite the many achievements of the deceased during his tenure as president, the reason why we are unable to mourn today is because there are still many issues that our community has to solve.
Today we are holding the funeral of former President Roh Tae-woo as a national funeral.
What moved our hearts more than the many achievements he showed during his tenure in office was that the deceased expressed his apology and forgiveness for past wrongs to the people through his will.
It is an immutable fact that President Roh Tae-woo has made an indelible mistake in our modern history.
We also know that true reconciliation begins only when the truth is revealed in the face of history and seeks understanding and forgiveness from the victims.
The President’s family visited the May 18 Gwangju Democracy Cemetery several times and asked for forgiveness.
There are regrets and regrets that I wish the deceased had personally met with the victims and their families and apologized before he died.
Today, at the funeral of the President, we realize once again the solemn fact that no one is free from history.
We fully understand the sentiments of the people who oppose the head of state.
We know that no apology can comfort all the heroes who were sacrificed in the 5.18 and democratization process.
But all history is present history.
The past is not buried, but is always alive with the history that our community makes together.
Today’s funeral should be a place of mourning for the deceased and a place of reflection on a new history, a history of truth, and a history of reconciliation and unity.
I hope the bereaved families will not forget the meaning of the national head of state today and the hearts of the people, and continue to apologize as the deceased did not directly.
Please join us in our efforts to uncover the truth of the past.
That is the way for the deceased, and it is essential for the long journey of our nation’s history.
I extend my deepest condolences to the bereaved family.
Best wishes to former President Roh Tae-woo.
October 30, 2021 Funeral Chairman Kim Bu-gyeom, Prime Minister.
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