South Korea held the funeral for former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan on January 31 in Seoul's National Assembly. Lee, aged 73, died of cardiac arrest during a business trip to Vietnam. Top dignitaries, including the president, attended to honor his role as a symbol of the democracy movement.
The funeral ceremony for former Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan began at 9 a.m. on January 31 at a conference hall in the National Assembly compound in Seoul. Lee died on Sunday at age 73 from cardiac arrest while on a business trip to Vietnam. His body was flown back on Tuesday and placed at a memorial altar at Seoul National University Hospital, where large numbers of mourners paid tribute over the five-day funeral period.
President Lee Jae Myung, first lady Kim Hae Kyung, National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, and Prime Minister Kim Min-seok sat in the front row with the bereaved family. Other attendees included Democratic Party leader Jung Chung-rai, DP floor leader Han Byung-do, Deputy Speaker Joo Ho-young, and leaders from the minor Rebuilding Korea Party and the Progressive Party.
Cho Jung-sik, special adviser to the president for political affairs and head of the funeral committee, described Lee as "a great man of democracy" and "a politician representing an era." Prime Minister Kim delivered a eulogy, stating that both democracy and the nation are "indebted" to the deceased. "He defended democracy through torture and imprisonment and paved the way for his juniors to enter politics by demonstrating the competence of democratic forces," he said. Fighting back tears, he called the former prime minister a "role model" to whom he still had "lots to ask."
Speaker Woo paid tribute by recalling their joint imprisonment in 1982 for pro-democracy protests against the authoritarian regime. "The name Lee Hae-chan was itself the history of the Republic of Korea's democracy," he said.
Lee was a towering figure in South Korea's democracy struggle, enduring torture and imprisonment before serving seven terms as a lawmaker and advising liberal presidents including Kim Dae-jung, Roh Moo-hyun, Moon Jae-in, and Lee Jae Myung. He served as prime minister from 2004 to 2006 under Roh. At the time of his death, he was executive vice chairperson of the Peaceful Unification Advisory Council. His body will be cremated, with ashes placed at an enshrinement hall in the central city of Sejong.
