韩国民众悼念卢武铉

音频下载[点击右键另存为]
Thousands of South Koreans lined up to pay respects to their former leader Roh Moo-hyun as the nation was reeling from the shock of his apparent suicide. The 62-year-old president, out of office for 15, months is believed to have jumped to his death from a cliff near his country home after being implicated in a corruption scandal. South Korea set up 31 altar sites throughout the country for citizens to pay their respects. And Prime Minister Han Seung-soo and cabinet members offered prayers to Roh. The former president's death was widely mourned in South Korea.

It's really sad. I'm really sad. And he's a poor person. He was a very nice man. I'm heartbroken. I cannot say any more.

North Korea's official media read out a condolence message from leader Kim Yong Il to Roh's family but noted the scandal investigation. Kim Yong Il and Roh met in Pyongyang at a historic summit in October2007, only the second summit of the states technically still at war.

A public funeral is expected on Friday for Roh, a self-taught lawyer who rose from rural poverty to win the presidency backed by a generation of students who fought for democracy in the 1980s.