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By CHOE SANG-HUN

SEOUL — Thousands of South Koreans —some holding the hands of children, some shouting anti-governmentslogans, all carrying white chrysanthemums — flocked to central Seoulon Sunday to bid farewell to former President Roh Moo-hyun, whocommitted suicide Saturday.

In a country where even the most prominent political leaders havefaced corruption charges in recent decades, Mr. Roh, 62, was the firstto end his own life while under investigation. For both his supportersand detractors, his suicide served as a painful reminder of howdifficult it remained to break the chain of graft in South Koreansociety.

“We are sorry we failed to protect you,” read many of the numerousyellow ribbons near the ancient Deoksu Palace in Seoul, hung by peoplewho believed Mr. Roh was the victim of political vendetta from hissuccessor, President Lee Myung-bak. “We will remember you forever.History will know that you were the cleanest president we ever had,”others said.

Before dawn Saturday, Mr. Roh switched on his computer and typed asuicide note — his last comment on a corruption scandal that threatenedto undo his proudest legacy: his record as an upstanding politicalleader.

“Don’t be too sad,” Mr. Roh said in the note, meant for his wife andtwo children. “Life and death are all parts of nature. Don’t be sorry.Don’t blame anyone. Accept it as fate.”

An hour and a half later, as the sun rose through a cloudy sky, Mr.Roh climbed a hill overlooking his native village of Bongha, on thesouth coast, and jumped off a cliff.

On Sunday, South Koreans across the country lined up — for hoursunder drizzling rain in some places — to pay respect at temporarymourning altars set up in the retirement village of Bongha.

Central Seoul was thick with police officers in full riot gear, asign that Mr. Roh, even after death, remained a volatile figure.

On Sunday, the government and Mr. Roh’s family agreed to hold a state “people’s funeral” Friday.

But tension also simmered as Mr. Roh’s suicide threatened to deepena political divide. His supporters trampled on a funeral wreath donatedby his successor, President Lee Myung-bak, and turned away his deputy,Prime Minister Han Seung-soo, who came to pay tribute at Bongha.

Past midnight Sunday, young people holding candles still stood inlines hundreds of meters long and snaking around the Deoksu Palace.People signed a petition calling on Parliament to impeach Mr. Lee for“murder.” Police buses surrounding the mourning site were plasteredwith paper messages denouncing Mr. Lee and prosecutors.

In his last months, Mr. Roh, who was president from 2003 to 2008,had seen his personal achievements clouded by accusations of corruptionand many of his political accomplishments undone.

The corruption charges faced by Mr. Roh’s family were minorcompared with those that had discredited some of his predecessors, whohad collected massive sums from the nation’s top conglomerates. Butprosecutors, long accused of taking orders from whomever is in power,aggressively went after Mr. Roh, leaking details of their investigationto the media. Mr. Roh killed himself a day before his wife, KwonYang-sook, was expected to be summoned for questioning for a secondtime.

“He was driven to kill himself for taking some money from along-time supporter, while those who robbed big businesses oftruckloads of cash are still alive without shame,” said Choi Chul-kyu,a 48-year-old mourner holding a candle, referring to formerconservative political leaders convicted of bribery. “How am I going toexplain this to my children? How am I going to explain the fact thatevery president in this country has wanted to squash his predecessor?”

But those who were close to Mr. Roh said the charges wereespecially painful because he had made his name as a “clean”politician, refusing to follow in the path of his predecessors; everyformer South Korean president since the 1980s has faced corruptionaccusations or gone to prison on such charges after his term was over.

In recent weeks, Mr. Roh acknowledged that a little-knownbusinessman who supported him had given more than $6 million to hiswife and son and his brother’s son-in-law while he was in office, buthe denied the payments were bribes. He said that he did not know aboutthe transactions until he left office and that the money for his wifewent to pay a debt.

While in office, Mr. Roh survived an impeachment and even confessedto being “sick and tired of being president.” But masked by suchfrankness and feistiness was a sensitive leader who took criticismpersonally, engaged in a vicious, prolonged battle with the nation’sconservative media, and appeared to consider real-life politics, whichhaunted him even in retirement, too messy for his character and toomuch to take.

“There was not a single quiet day while he was in office,” said ChoiJin, head of the Institute of Presidential Leadership. “Throughout hislife, he always made extreme choices, playing an all-or-nothing game.His suicide was the last explosion in his fiery and volcanic career.”