ANGER OVER ROH'S DEATH SPARKS CALL FOR PROTESTS

C O N F I D E N T I A L SEOUL 000853 SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/29/2019 TAGS: KS KN PGOV PREL SUBJECT: ANGER OVER ROH'S DEATH SPARKS CALL FOR PROTESTS REF: A. SEOUL 00821 ¶B. SEOUL 00823 Classified By: POL Joseph Y. Yun. Reasons 1.4 (b,d). ¶1. (C) Summary: On May 29, about 2,000 people gathered at Gyeongbokgung Place for the funeral of former President Roh Moo-Hyun, who committed suicide on May 23 (reftels). Meanwhile, tens of thousands of mourners converged on the Seoul City Hall Plaza, about one-quarter of a mile south of the palace, for the public memorial service that immediately followed the funeral. The current administration has taken much of the blame for Roh's suicide, amid charges that a corruption investigation into the former president and his family was politically motivated. Former President Kim Dae-jung issued some unhelpful comments yesterday, including criticisms of the current administration and the prosecutors. Consequently, tensions were running high before, during, and immediately after the funeral, making it likely that protests will continue through the weekend. END SUMMARY. -------------- Paying Respects to Roh Moo-hyun -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The roughly 2,000 guests that attended the funeral for former President Roh Moo-hyun included family members, current and former ROKG officials, and a number of foreign dignitaries. The United States was represented by a presidential delegation led by Ambassador Stephens and including EAP DAS Arvizu; Michael Green, Senior Adviser and Japan Chair at Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS); and Victor Cha, Georgetown University's Asian Studies Director and Korea Chair at CSIS. The one-and-a-half hour service included speeches by current Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and former Prime Minister Han Myung-sook, who co-chaired the funeral committee. Buddhist and Christian religious rites were performed and the ceremony ended with a gun salute. During the ceremony, family members and dignitaries approached the altar in front of a giant photograph of Roh Moo-hyun to leave tributes of white chrysanthemums and offer incense. As President Lee Myung-bak and his wife approached the altar, pro-Roh National Assembly member Paek Won-woo shouted that Lee should apologize for Roh's "murder," causing a moment of confusion as Lee hesitated and other attendees tried to quiet the heckler. The crowds already assembled in City Hall Plaza, watching the funeral on large LDC screens, also jeered the President, Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, and former conservative President Kim Young-sam. ¶3. (SBU) After the funeral service at Gyeongbokgung, the casket and several hundred mourners processed south down Sejong-ro (the road immediately in front of the U.S. Embassy) to City Hall, where the family disembarked for the memorial service. The route and City Hall Plaza were covered in yellow, the color Roh used for his 2002 presidential campaign, as people wore hats, ribbons, and held signs emblazoned with the former President's picture. The Korean National Police estimated that about 50,000 had gathered for the City Hall service, but RSO speculated that the estimate was probably conservative given that the crowd extended from Admiral Yi's statue (several blocks north of City Hall) about one mile south past City Hall to Seoul Station. After the memorial service, the hearse carrying Roh's casket proceeded out of Seoul and south to Suwon for cremation. -------------- Angry, but Subdued -------------- ¶4. (C) Embassy staff who attended the City Hall ceremony described the mood as angry but subdued. The Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, the Democratic Labor Party, and other leftist groups distributed pamphlets criticizing the Lee Myung-bak Administration, saying it was time to fight against the dictatorship's killing of squatters and workers. (NOTE: This was probably a reference to the January Yongsan fire, in which 5 protesters were killed in a fire started by their own Molotov cocktails while the police tried to remove squatters from a building.) Although the mood was sad and somber, sign boards directed people to convene again at 16:00 on Saturday, May 30, for a candlelight vigil. -------------- Kim Dae-jung Criticizes ROKG -------------- ¶5. (SBU) On May 28, former President Kim Dae-jung visited a memorial to Roh at Seoul Station -- one of the 140 such memorials nationwide. After paying his respects, Kim commented that if he had been in Roh's position, he, too, would have committed suicide. Kim went on to criticize the current administration and the prosecutors who were investigating Roh's wife and family. Kim also complained about the administration's refusal to allow him to speak at the funeral, despite the request from Roh's family. Kim's complaints land on sympathetic ears, as many of his and Roh's supporters have been very vocal about what they see as an increasingly authoritarian bent to the Lee Myung-bak government. -------------- COMMENT -------------- ¶6. (C) Tensions are running high, and critics continue to argue that ROK prosecutors, orchestrated by President Lee Myung-bak, are to blame for driving Roh to suicide. On May 25, two days after Roh's death, Lee's approval rating had dropped another 5.3 percentage points to 27.4 percent. Grief over Roh's death combined with Kim Dae-jung's and other's allegations that the government is becoming increasingly authoritarian, will lead to protests in the coming days. For now at least, most of our political contacts believe that these protests are unlikely to reprise last year's candlelight vigils in either scale or scope. STEPHENS