Daehanmun Gate of Deoksugung Palace
I've never felt emotions so utterly palpable before. Grown men were openly weeping, a few women around me were wailing, and others shouted profanities at large television screens when the current president came on. This morning I went down with tens of thousands of others to watch the funeral ceremony for the former President Roh Moo-hyun in City Hall. Although the streets around the City Hall plaza were completely open to pedestrians, there were still unending throngs of people trying to watch the screens and listen simultaneously to the broadcasts on their TV-equipped cell phones. Citizens were given yellow visors and balloons that had Roh's image emblazoned on them. At moments synchronized with what was appearing on screen, people released a sea of balloons into the air, poetic gestures that expressed both grief, empathy, and hope. I was nearly crushed twice, however, when there was a great deal of confusion over if the hearse had passed by our area. People stood up from their "seats" on the street and started pushing towards a vehicle that carried a large poster image of Roh. It turned out that the hearse had bypassed the City Hall area - but even so, the passing moment revealed a deep wellspring of emotion from the people around me. Balloons and yellow paper airplanes were tossed in the direction of the vehicle, and people suddenly started wailing and sobbing without restraint. Later on, after much of the commotion had died down, I found myself wiping back tears when people around me started singing spontaneously, the words to the famous protest song by Kim Minki, Achim Iseul (Morning Dew).
I just uploaded a series of photos from today's funeral ceremony and Monday's memorial service events onto Facebook. And here are the short video clips:
VIDEO 2: Memorial Altar at the Jogye Temple
VIDEO 4: City Hall (시청앞), Seoul
VIDEO 5: City Hall (시청앞), Seoul
If you encounters any problems viewing the video clips, please let me know. Thanks!
2 comments:
you went! my teacher, his daughter, and his student all went, saying they had to go. i am not korean enough to have done it (not just my intolerance for crowds, but more my inability to withstand the sun...and maybe even also that i didn't feel enough like i was allowed - THAT kind of not korean enough! crying while watching TV and attempting to weave was about all i could do) but i'm glad that you did. ALSO glad that you weren't trampled. yikes. thanks for sharing!
oh wow...
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