Widow of S. Korean dictator issues apology over brutal rule

Final rites: Buddhist monks paying tributes at a memorial altar for Chun. — AFP

SEOUL - The widow of South Korea’s last military dictator issued a brief apology over the "pains and scars” caused by her husband’s brutal rule as dozens of relatives and former aides gathered at a Seoul hospital on Saturday to pay their final respects to Chun Doo-hwan.

Chun, who took power in a 1979 coup and violently crushed pro-democracy protests a year later before being jailed for treason in the 1990s, died at his Seoul home Tuesday at the age of 90.