By Kim Rahn
Staff Reporter
With foreign envoys and diplomats among the hundreds of thousands paying their respects to the country's tragic former President Roh Moo-hyun, foreign residents and visitors interested in following in their footsteps are being encouraged to follow the traditional Korean funeral custom.
The government has set up memorial altars at seven locations in Seoul and more than 80 across the nation, mainly at local ward offices.
The altars in Seoul are at the Seoul Museum of History in Jongno, Seoul Station and the ward offices of Seongbuk-gu, Seodaemun-gu, Guro-gu, Gangdong-gu and Yangcheon-gu.
Korean tradition sees mourners burn incense or put a white chrysanthemum on the altar ― if as part of a group, a representative of the group usually completes the task. Traditionally, the individual then either bows toward the altar twice while on their knees, or simply pays a silent tribute while standing. The mourner and the bereaved family then bow to each other ― again with either a bow to the ground or a nod.
Burning incense is believed to remove unclean spirits and refresh the body and soul, linking the latter to heaven. It is also believed that the fumes of the incense alert the spirit of the dead. It is said that people began to use incense in funerals to mask the smell of decaying bodies. As for white chrysanthemums, it is said that Koreans began to use them at funerals at the end of Joseon Kingdom in the late 19th century.
Traditionally, people used to burn incense and wear cloth made of hemp, but began to wear black suits and use white chrysanthemums as black implies ``death'' and chrysanthemums represent ``nobility'' and ``solemnity,'' according to a member of the Korea Florist Association.
``White chrysanthemum was the flower that goes in line with the Korean culture of wearing white hemp mourning clothes, so people began to offer it at funerals,'' he said.