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Following a public ceremony to allow time for national mourning, former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun's body was cremated before being returned to his home village.

Roh's body was cremated on Friday, and according to his wishes, his ashes were returned to his home village to be marked by a simple gravestone.

Earlier on Friday, thousands of people joined a solemn ceremony in the courtyard of the 14th century Gyeongbok Palace.

Later, the hearse carrying Roh's body headed to a grassy square outside City Hall for an emotional public ceremony.

Han Myeong-Sook, Former South Korean PM, said, "We thought his last wish, to go back to the dreaming, natural person he used to be in his childhood, would come true. However, what did happen? Nothing like this has ever happened before. The cruel world has taken the last opportunity for him to live like a human Roh Moo-hyun."

More than 2,500 people were invited to Roh's formal ceremony in the stately palace in the heart of Seoul. Roh's portrait sat in a bed of one million Chrysanthemums laid in the shape of a Rose of Sharon, South Korea's national flower.

Dressed in traditional mourning outfits, performers carried out Confucian rites designed to send Roh's spirit to heaven and to comfort his soul.

Meanwhile, at City Hall, sobbing mourners wore yellow paper hats and waved yellow handkerchiefs as they watched the funeral on large monitors.

Shin Kyung-Ja, Mourner, said, "I am really upset because the person I most respected and loved among all of the other former South Korean presidents has died tragically."

Later, following Roh Moo-hyun's funeral ceremony, sporadic scuffles broke out in Seoul between police and supporters of the former South Korean president.

Many of Roh's supporters accuse conservative political opponents, led by current South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, of driving the liberal ex-leader to his death. And they are calling for the president to step down.