Thousands bid goodbye to President Roh

SEOUL, May 25 (UPI) -- More than 100,000 people have paid their respects to former South Korea President Roh Moo-hyun, who died Saturday after jumping from a cliff.

Yonhap news agency said the mourners visited Roh's hometown to pay their respects.

Roh, who was president from 2003 to 2008 but more recently had been mired in a bribery scandal along with other members of his family, reportedly took his life while hiking behind his home in Bongha Village, about 300 miles south of Seoul.

Some of the mourners were quoted as saying they had walked miles to enter the village, Yonhap said.

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il issued a condolence message Monday.

"On hearing the news that former President Roh Moo-hyun died in an accident, I express profound condolences to widow Kwon Yang-sook and his bereaved family," Kim was quoted by the North's official news agency as saying.

The message was sent the same day North Korea said it conducted a nuclear test, its second since October 2006.

During his presidency, Roh sought for reconciliation with the North and held a summit with Kim in Pyongyang in 2007, Yonhap said.