The official funeral ceremony for Seoul Mayor Park Won-soon was held at Korea's City Hall on Monday morning, with many mourners in attendance, as well as people who are furious that the event is being held using public funds.

A well-loved public figure who defended the rights of the Korean people, the news certainly came as a huge shock for all South Koreans.

For the uninitiated, all of this begs the question : what is actually going on?

Read on to find the full story.

Mourners pay respects to the late Mayor of Seoul, Park Won-soon.

What happened?

A former secretary for the mayor of Seoul - who died last week in an apparent suicide - has accused him of four years of sexual harassment.

Park Won-soon was one of South Korea's most influential leaders and was seen as a possible presidential candidate.

His body was found in woods on Friday - after a note to his family was found - and his funeral began on Monday.

His death came just a day after the secretary made a police complaint about his behaviour.

More than 500,000 people signed a petition saying Mr Park's state-run five-day funeral should not go ahead.

What did the alleged victim say?

At a news conference on Monday, lawyers for the alleged victim said the mayor sexually harassed her for four years.

The woman said the mayor sent her pictures of himself in his underwear, and called her into the bedroom in his office, asking her to hug him.

The woman said she asked for help from Seoul City Hall but was ignored. She said the abuse continued even when she changed departments.

"I should have reported this in the beginning," the alleged victim said in a letter that was read at the news conference. "I wonder if had, I wouldn't be blaming myself now."

She said she was "questioned all night" after complaining to the police, and that she was shocked by her former boss's death.

"The word death was something I could not have spoken of - even during my hardest times. It was truly so disappointing and I still do not want to believe it.

"I wish the dead good will."

What happened to Park Won-soon?

After a huge search, Mr Park's body was found on Friday in woods at Mount Bugak in Seoul.

He left a note for his family, which was publicly released after his death.

What did the funeral petition say?

A petition named "I oppose holding Seoul Mayor Park Won Soon's funeral for five days" was posted on the Blue House Website and in 12 hours, had received over 250,000 signatures.

The petition on the South Korean presidential website, where people regularly start campaigns, was signed more than 560,000 times.

"Do the people need to watch a fancy five-day funeral for a famous politician whose sexual harassment allegation led to his suicide?" it asked.

"What kind of message does that send to the people? It should be a quiet, family funeral."

On Sunday, a court in Seoul rejected an injunction to stop the public funeral.

More than 20,000 people paid their respects to Mr Park during the mourning period, and some showed their support on Monday, despite heavy rain.

Monday's service - which was broadcast online - was limited to 100 socially-distanced mourners.

"Mourning doesn't necessarily exclude soul-searching, but now is time to mourn," said Paik Nak-chung, a literary critic who helped lead the funeral.

Who was Park Won-soon?

The 64-year-old became Mayor of Seoul in 2011 and won another two elections.

He was a member of President Moon's liberal Democratic Party and was excepted to be a possible presidential candidate in 2022.

As a lawyer, he won the country's first sexual harassment case, and highlighted the country's many economic inequalities.

He was imprisoned in the 1970s for protesting against the country's authoritarian rule.

Investigations are on-going about the claims and allegations made, but for now, we are all holding our collective breaths for the latest news.

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