Liberal activists, politicians and citizens bid farewell on Tuesday to Kim Geun-tae, a leading pro-democracy figure who fought against dictatorship under previous administrations.
Kim’s body was moved Tuesday morning from Seoul University Hospital to Myeongdong Cathedral for the funeral ceremony, which was attended by over a thousand people, including his family and left-wing politicians.
“We hereby engrave his name in the heart of history,” said Father Ham Se-woong during the ceremony.
After the ceremony, Kim’s body was laid to rest in a cemetery in northern Gyeonggi Province.
Kim died Friday at age 64, due to complications of pneumonia and blood poisoning, following a long struggle with Parkinson’s Disease.
Under the military governments in the 1970s and 1980s, he was repeatedly jailed and tortured for his opposition to the regime, which allegedly aggravated his physical condition.
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A mourner looks at a photo of late Kim Geun-tae, who was senior advisor of the main opposition Democratic Unified Party, at Myeongdong Cathedral in Seoul on Tuesday where his funeral took place. Kim died Friday at age 64. (Lee Sang-sub/The Korea Herald.) |
During his imprisonment, Kim received the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award and was also named a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
He was first elected to the National Assembly in 1996, and was reelected twice afterwards.
After serving as leader of the former ruling Uri Party and health minister, Kim was also considered to succeed late President Roh Moo-hyun but retreated from public view after deciding not to run in the 2007 general election.
Even in his last days in pain, Kim was known to have encouraged people to exercise their political rights.
“We have been given two opportunities this year to bring real changes to our society,” he was quoted as saying.
After the funeral ceremony, hundreds of citizens held memorial rites in Pyeonghwa Market, a symbol of democratic struggle in the 1970s.
However, Lee Geun-ah, a former police officer who tortured Kim, failed to show up at the ceremony or at the mortuary in the past few days.
The 73-year-old former officer is notorious for his brutal torture and was later handed a seven-year jail term for his acts.
By Bae Hyun-jung (
tellme@heraldcorp.com)
