South Korean
politics
Death of a leader
May 23rd 2009 | BONGHA VILLAGE AND
SEOUL
From Economist.com
A former president of South Korea, Roh
Moo-hyun, jumps off a cliff and kills himself
Reuters
THE home of the former South Korean president,
Roh Moo-hyun, in the tiny village of Bongha, is surrounded by picturesque wooded
hills. In the spring fire swept across the hills, blackening them. At the same
time, in April, Mr Roh’s reputation was being tarnished as he admitted to graft.
Since then Mr Roh, whose elder brother is in prison after being convicted of
bribery, had been expecting prosecutors to bring charges. But rather than face
more public humiliation Mr Roh committed suicide on Saturday May 23rd by jumping
off a cliff.
In a note the 62 year old said that he “made the life of too
many people difficult”. He requested that his family burn his body and erect a
simple grave stone to mark his life. “Isn’t life and death one?” asked the
former president. Responding to the news, the justice ministry announced that it
would stop the investigation into Mr Roh and his family.
Corruption scandals
have haunted every South Korean president. The children of Kim Dae-jung and Kim
Young-sam went to jail for graft. Two former presidents, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh
Tae-woo, went to prison after it was found they had solicited hundreds of
millions of dollars from the country’s biggest business groups.
Mr Roh was
thought to be different. He had campaigned all his political life against
corruption. When he left office at the end of his five-year presidential term
last year, he went back to his home village, enhancing his reputation as a man
of the people.
The son of poor farmers, Mr Roh had studied for the bar and
then become a practising lawyer, becoming known as a people’s champion after
defending students who had been arrested for protesting against Chun Doo-hwan, a
dictatorial leader. Mr Roh gave up his law practice for politics in the
mid-1980s, serving in the National Assembly, where he campaigned against
corruption.
That caught the attention of South Korea’s best known political
figure, Kim Dae-jung. In 1997 Mr Roh organised Mr Kim’s successful presidential
campaign. Five years later, Mr Roh surprised perhaps even himself in the race to
be president by defeating the favoured establishment candidate, a former Supreme
Court chief justice, Lee Hoi-chong. He did so by appealing to the modest
aspirations of the poor, middle class and university students.
His term as
president was tumultuous. The business community saw him as a leftist maverick
intent on redistributing wealth by imposing progressive taxes. At one point he
was impeached, accused of corruption, although he was not convicted.
Mr Roh,
troubled by abuse of the highest office by his predecessors, sought to institute
more checks and balances on the president and more forms of oversight. He
continued the “Sunshine Policy” of Kim Dae-jung, which called for engagement of
North Korea. He sought to deepen social, political and economic contacts with
Pyongyang, the northern capital, to the disquiet of Washington. Meetings with
the American leader were never relaxed, and although a free-trade agreement was
signed between the two countries, and despite the presence of many American
troops in South Korea, the alliance grew testy. In October 2007 Mr Roh went to
Pyongyang, against the advice of George Bush’s White House. North Korea had
exploded a nuclear bomb in 2006 and Washington did not want its ally shaking
hands or signing agreements with Kim Jong Il.
Mr Roh’s efforts while in
office to redistribute wealth were reversed by his successor, Lee Myung-bak, a
former boss of the Hyundai Group. Mr Lee has also cooled relations with North
Korea. South Korean tourist groups no longer travel across the heavily armed
inter-Korean border. The future of the Kaesong Industrial Complex in North
Korea, a joint venture between southern capital and northern labour, is in doubt
following a series of capricious demands by Pyongyang. North Korea has said it
will not return to six-party talks on ending its nuclear-weapons
programme.
In his retirement Mr Roh criticised his successor’s policies
towards North Korea. At his village he began to reclaim some of his former
popularity. His home became popular among tourists and the former president
would often greet holiday-makers at his front gate. But in April, on his website
under the heading, “I Apologise”, Mr Roh said that he had requested, received
and used money from a businessman. He said that he had a “debt to repay”. Mr Roh
may have accepted at least $6m and numerous gifts through family members and
former aides. In time his reputation may recover somewhat, but locals are
unimpressed. “Before this incident I thought he was a clean president and I
respected him. I have changed my mind”, says Park Song-deuk, a resident of Mr
Roh’s village.
Thousands in Korea mourn Roh’s death
Financial Times
By Song Jung-a and Christian
Oliver in Seoul
Published: May 24 2009 13:46 | Last updated: May 24 2009
17:15
Tens of
thousands of mourners gathered across South Korea to pay their final respects to
Roh Moo-hyun, a former president who committed suicide at the weekend as he
faced a growing corruption scandal.
Shortly after dawn on Saturday, Mr Roh, 62, went hiking on a
mountain behind his home in Bongha, a village in the south-east of the
peninsula. Police said he jumped from a cliff-face near the summit and suffered
severe head injuries. He left a brief suicide note to his family.
Triumphs and troubles
●Roh Moo-hyun was born to a poor farming family in 1946, in
south-east Korea.
●Began working as a
lawyer in 1978, becoming a human rights lawyer. defending democracy activists
●Entered parliament in 1988 and rose to
stardom during a parliamentary hearing into corruption charges against former
president Chun Doo-hwan.
●Elected
president in 2002, vowing to fight corruption, reform big conglomerates ,
improve relations with North Korea and make South Korea more independent
from the US
●Impeached in 2004 on a
breach of election rules but reinstated by the Constitutional Court two months
later.
●Held a summit with Kim
Jong-il, North Korea’s leader, in Pyongyang in October 2007 and signed many
inter-Korean economic co-operation deals
●Left office in February 2008 with low approval ratings but
won praise for having cleaned up the country’s electoral system and signing a
landmark trade liberalisation agreement with the US
●Questioned by prosecutors in April 2009 over claims that
his family received $6m in bribes from a businessman.
●Commits suicide on May 23.amid the bribery
investigation
South Koreans were stunned by the sudden death of Mr Roh, famed
abroad for his attempts to build a rapprochement with communist North Korea.
“This is hard to believe,” said Lee Myung-bak, the president. “It’s very sad and
lamentable.”
Mr Roh, who left office in February 2008, had complained he was
suffering from intense stress because of a scandal involving alleged corruption
during his presidency. Prosecutors summoned him last month for an investigation
into allegations that his family received $6m from a businessman while he was in
office. His family has also been grilled.
Mr Roh’s supporters claimed the
investigation was politically motivated to undermine the opposition and that the
prosecutors’ probe into his family drove him to take his own life. The
government on Sunday said the case against Mr Roh was closed but analysts
speculate his suicide still threatens to catalyse the country’s political
tensions.
Thousands of people queued up to burn incense and bow before a
make-shift altar erected to Mr Roh in downtown Seoul. As Mr Roh was fond of
smoking, many mourners left a cigarette rather than an incense stick. State
radio reported 10,000 mourners had visited Bongha by Sunday morning.
“I am
lost for words. His death is a great loss for the country,” said Kim Jae-suk, a
52-year-old housewife waiting for her turn in the tearful crowd gathered at the
altar.
Mr Roh’s death came as prosecutors were due to decide whether to
charge him. Mr Roh admitted his wife had taken money from a businessman to pay
family debts. He had issued a public apology, but the scandal dealt a blow to
his image as a clean politician in a rotten system.
Mr Roh, a former human
rights lawyer, was elected in 2002 on a promise to reform powerful
conglomerates, fight corruption, improve relations with Pyongyang and make Seoul
more independent from the US, its long-standing military ally.
However, his
five-year term proved turbulent, marked by political infighting and scandals. Mr
Roh was impeached by lawmakers in early 2004 over a breach of election rules but
was two months later reinstated after the Constitutional Court overturned the
move.
His death may rekindle tensions between predominantly young liberals
and older conservatives in South Korea, where President Lee, a conservative
former businessman, came to power last year after a decade of liberal rule.
“A controversy is flaring up over whether the prosecutors were responsible
for his death. If the government fails to handle this well, then the probe could
be seen as a political revenge against Mr Roh. In that case, it will be a huge
political burden for Mr Lee,” said Ham Sung-deuk, a politics professor at Korea
University.
Additional reporting by Kang Buseong in Seoul
Copyright The
Financial Times Limited 2009
Ex-president's suicide leaves South Korea with
questions about its leaders
Kim Jung-wook / European Pressphoto Agency
Pallbearers carry
the coffin of former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun at a hospital in
Yangsan, southeast of Seoul. “He was the first real outsider to gain political
power in South Korea,” one analyst said.
Roh Moo-hyun, known as Mr. Clean, was the target of a
corruption inquiry. He leaves behind the legacy of a flawed leader perhaps too
human for the righteous agenda he swore to pursue.
By John M. Glionna
9:56 PM PDT, May 23, 2009
Reporting from Seoul -- He
entered the national stage as Mr. Clean, a tireless crusader in a country rife
with high-level corruption. He left disgraced, taking his own life amid
suspicion that he had been dirtied by the culture of political bribery he had
promised to wipe out
The suicide of former South Korean President Roh
Moo-hyun on Saturday, days before he was expected to be indicted in an
influence-peddling inquiry, left the nation grappling with new and troubling
questions about the moral character of its elected leaders.
Throughout South Korea,
Saturday was a day of mourning for a leader who represented what many considered
to be a crucial shift in their country's politics.
"He was the first real
outsider to gain political power in South Korea," said David Kang, head of the
Korean Studies Institute at USC. "This is a guy who didn't have family
connections or a glittering family background. For the country's conservatives,
he was not one of them."
Others were dismissive.
"He was a two-faced person,"
said Kim Seung-hwan, a senior research associate at the Center for Strategic and
International Studies in Seoul. "He set himself up as this crusader who was
going to clean up South Korean politics."
"But he left so many questions
about the influence of people around him and whether he himself was corrupt. For
Koreans, he left behind a lot of frustration."
Roh, 62, who jumped to his
death from a rocky promontory near his home in the southern city of Busan, also
leaves a hard-luck legacy of a flawed leader perhaps too human for the righteous
agenda he swore to pursue.
With his emphasis on national sovereignty and
independence from superpowers such as the United States, supporters say, Roh
symbolized South Korea's progress toward becoming a more liberal and independent
democracy.
But critics say history will not be so kind to Roh, whose
five-year term ended last year.
Often contentious and insecure, he lacked
the leadership skills to rally a nation that craved a new political direction.
He defied conservative wisdom to pursue more lenient policies toward North Korea
and questioned his own qualifications for the nation's top political
post.
Roh's roots were different from those of his presidential
predecessors, mostly wealthy men who moved into national politics.
He was
born in 1946 to a farming couple in the rural town of Gimhae. In the book "A
Collection of Presidential Leadership," which includes a chapter on Roh, author
Choi Jin wrote that Roh's impoverished childhood shaped his policies as
president, such as his drive to raise taxes on the upper middle
class.
"His childhood is full of a sense of inferiority and anger and
resistance," Choi wrote. "His mother was full of rancor for being left out [of
society] in a mountain village."
Choi asserted that Roh's upbringing left
him questioning the limits of government authority. Roh preferred group
decision-making, a habit of delegating authority that may have helped doom him
in the end, critics say.
As a young man, he chose a legal education and
later became a human rights lawyer and judge. He eventually entered politics
with a strong drive to end regionalism in South Korea.
Roh was
unexpectedly elected president in 2002, prevailing by a 2-percentage-point
margin. He won office on a vow to stem the runaway rise in real estate prices,
clean up politics and wrest the Blue House, the presidential mansion, from the
grip of leaders who represented the interests of big business.
Yet his
presidency was marred by missteps. His campaigns to raise taxes and move the
capital out of Seoul failed. Critics say Roh coddled North Korea, and he barely
survived a campaign to drive him from office on grounds of
incompetence.
Still, his administration opened the door for more news
media freedom, experts say.
"He was the first president to allow himself
to be mocked. on several occasions he was a figure of fun all around," said
Brian Myers, a political scientist at Dongseo University in Busan.
"You look at current
President Lee Myung-bak's efforts as he desperately tries to get control over
the press and the Internet, and you appreciate the difference."
Roh left
the presidency in February 2008. Just 14 months later, he was back in the public
eye. Authorities alleged that his wife and son had accepted $6 million in bribes
from a shoe tycoon in exchange for preferential treatment on various business
projects.
Disgraced, Roh denied the
allegations. Yet, in the final weeks of his life, the weight of public scrutiny
became heavy. In an embarrassing public rebuke last month, he was summoned back
to Seoul from retirement for an interrogation by
investigators.
Prosecutors were expected to indict Roh in a matter of
days. He was the third South Korean president since 1995 to face a corruption
investigation after leaving office.
Experts say Roh died concerned about
his legacy.
"He may not have known much
about his family's dealings with people trying to gain favors and was ashamed
after the relationship came to light," said Hahm Sung-deuk, a professor of
politics at Korea University. "He killed himself to show how ashamed he
was."
Others don't see Roh as a victim.
"I don't think anyone will
believe for a minute his wifewas taking all that money and he knew
absolutely nothing about it," Myers said.
Guilty or not, Roh may have
found the appearance of impropriety too much to bear.
"I suppose that
this image of morality and public trust may have been a huge burden," said Kim
Kwang-dong, head of the Nara Policy Institute. "Because now the nation realized
that once a symbol of protest and ethics, Roh was no different from conventional
politicians."
Police found a hiking boot and a bloodstained jacket at the
scene of Roh's death. They confiscated a computer on which Roh's lawyer said he
left a suicide note.
In his last written words, the onetime political
dragon-slayer asked to be cremated and for a small tombstone to be erected near
his home. He also left an epitaph of sorts.
"The pain that I caused to so
many people is too great. The pain in the coming days is unfathomable," he
reportedly wrote. "Don't be sorry. Don't blame anyone. It's
destiny."
john.glionna@latimes.comJu-min Park of The Times' Seoul Bureau contributed to this
report.
