Roh Moo-hyun
Roh Moo-hyun GOM (Korean: 노무현; Korean pronunciation: [no muçʌn]; 1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was a South Korean politician and lawyer who served as the ninth president of South Korea between 2003 and 2008.
In this Korean name, the family name is Roh.
Roh Moo-hyun
Chung In-bong
Park Chan-jong
Kim Jung-kil
Hur Sam-soo
1 September 1946
Pongha, Southern Korea
23 May 2009 (aged 62)
Bongha Village, South Korea
Reunification Democratic (1987–1990)
Democratic (1990–1991)
Democratic (1991–1995)
National Congress for New Politics (1995–2000)
Democratic (2000–2003)
Uri (2003–2007)
Independent (2007–2009)
1968–1971
No Mu(-)hyeon
No Muhyŏn
Roh's pre-presidential political career was focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. His electoral career later expanded to a focus on overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his election to the presidency. He achieved a large following among younger internet users, which aided his success in the presidential election.[1][2] Roh's election was notable for the arrival in power of a new generation of Korean politicians, the so-called 386 Generation (people in their thirties, when the term was coined, who had attended university in the 1980s and who were born in the 1960s).[3][4] This generation had been veterans of student protests against authoritarian rule and advocated a conciliatory approach towards North Korea, even at the expense of good relations with the United States.[5] Roh himself was the first South Korean president to be born after the end of Japanese rule in Korea.
South Korea received the highest marks on the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index under his administration. The value of the South Korean won against the US dollar was the strongest during his administration since 1997.[6] Due to the strong currency, for the first time in history, South Korea became the world's 10th largest economy and exceeded the $20,000 milestone in nominal GDP per capita during his administration. However, despite high expectations at the beginning of his presidency,[7] Roh encountered strong opposition from both the opposition conservative Grand National Party and media, and he was frequently accused of incompetence.[8] As a result, many of Roh's policies, such as a plan to move the capital of South Korea and a plan to form a coalition with the opposition, made little progress. Because of his poor performance in economy and diplomacy, Roh was not a popular president, having the worst approval rating on average ever recorded in South Korean political history.[9][10][11] His economic policy was often criticized for persisting with certain obsolete economic views and failing certain livelihood issues.[10][12]
After leaving office, Roh returned to his hometown of Bongha Maeul. He ran a duck farm and lived an ordinary life, sharing it through his blog. He also ran a website called "Democracy 2.0" to promote healthy online discussions.[13] Fourteen months later, Roh was suspected of bribery by prosecutors, and the subsequent investigations attracted public attention.[14] Roh committed suicide on 23 May 2009 when he jumped from a mountain cliff behind his home, after saying that "there are too many people suffering because of me" on a suicide note on his computer.[15] About 4 million people visited Roh's hometown Bongha Village in the week following his death. His suicide was confirmed by police.[16] Public opinion on Roh has improved considerably since his death, which has taken into account his human rights background and national economic progress during his presidency. In a 2019 Gallup Korea poll, Roh was cited as the most popular president in South Korean history amongst the general public.[17]
Personal background
Roh was born into a poor farming family on 1 September 1946, in Bongha Village near Gimhae and Pusan, in what is now southeastern South Korea. His ancestor was in Dongyang, Zhejiang. His parents had three boys and two girls, and Roh was the youngest of his family. In 1953, he entered Dae Chang Elementary School. He received high grades, but was quite often absent from school to assist his parents.[18] While in sixth grade, with the encouragement of his school teacher, he became the president of the school. As he entered Jin-yeong middle school, a writing contest was held to commemorate Syngman Rhee's birthday. Roh tried to start a student movement against it, but was caught and suspended from the school.[19]
Roh Moo-Hyun decided to become a lawyer due to the influence of his elder brother who had studied law but had died in a car accident. Roh studied on his own to pass the bar exam in 1975 (South Korea does not currently require bar examinees to have graduated from college, university, or law school). In 1977, he became a regional judge in Daejeon, but quit in 1978, and became a lawyer.
In 1981, he defended students who had been tortured for suspicion of possession of contraband literature. Following this he decided to become a human rights lawyer. In early 2003, he was quoted as saying, "After that defense, my life was totally changed. At first, even I couldn't believe that they had been tortured that harshly. However, when I saw their horrified eyes and their missing toenails, my comfortable life as a lawyer came to an end. I became a man that wanted to make a difference in the world." With fellow human rights lawyers, he pointed out that this case was forged, then claimed that the National Security Act (South Korea) itself should be judged.
In 1985 he started to participate in civic movements by assuming permanent power of attorney on behalf of the Busan council of citizen democracy.[19] He opposed the autocratic regime in place at the time in South Korea, and participated in the pro-democracy June Democracy Movement in 1987 against Chun Doo-hwan.[20] The same year he was jailed while investigating the cause of death of the Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering factory worker Lee Seok-Kyu, who had been killed by a stray police tear gas bullet while on strike. Roh was accused of 'unapproved interference in the case' and 'hindering the funeral'. Although he was released in twenty days because of public opinion against the arrest, his lawyer's license was revoked after the incident in political retribution.[19] His lawyer's license was reinstated and he, along with Chun Jung Bae and Im Jong In, founded Haemaru Law firm.[21]
Roh was baptized as a Catholic (baptismal name: Justin) in 1986 but then lapsed while continuing to identify as a Catholic,[22] though later years he was non-religious while practicing a form of Mahayana Buddhism.[23][24]
Early political career
Roh entered politics in 1988 when he was invited by Kim Young-sam to join the Reunification Democratic Party (통일민주당). That same year, he was elected as a member of the National Assembly, representing Dong-gu, Busan. He came to wider public attention with his cross-examination of the government over political corruption allegations in a parliamentary hearing.[25]
In 1990, Kim Young-sam merged his party with the Democratic Justice Party to form the Democratic Liberal Party, a forerunner of the Grand National Party. Roh did not participate in the party and he criticized it as "betrayal against the democracy movement".[26]
In 1991, before the election of the national assembly, the Weekly Chosun posted an article that alleging that Roh was a politician with hidden wealth. Roh sued the company for defamation and won, but lost the election for his seat.[27]
Having lost his seat in the 1992 Assembly elections, he later ran for the mayorship of Busan in 1995, where he lost again. Shortly after the election, Kim Dae-jung founded the National Congress for New Politics, but Roh did not join. In 1996, he ran for the Assembly seat for Jongno-gu in Seoul, losing to another future president, Lee Myung-bak.
Roh founded the new party with Lee Bu-Yeong, Lee Chul, Kim Won-Gi, and Kim Jeong-Gil, but before the presidential election, after the New Korea Party merged with the United Democratic Party, he decided to reconcile with Kim Dae-jung to 'bring the military government and their political heir into justice'.
Subsequently, Roh reconciled with Kim when he endorsed his candidacy in the 1997 Presidential election. At the meeting, Kim Dae-jung welcomed Roh and his party saying "Today is a very pleasant day. That pleasure is not only because we now work together, but also because I could relieve a burden in my mind that I have been carrying (since we separated)." Roh returned to office in 1998, when Lee Myung-bak resigned his seat because of a violation of election law, winning a seat in the ensuing by-election.
In 2000, Roh ran for the National Assembly representing Buk-gu and Gangseo-gu in Busan as part of a campaign to overcome regionalism in Korean politics, but was defeated. His defeat in the election, however, proved fortuitous when his supporters formed Nosamo, the first political fan club in Korea.[28] His supporters were inspired by his commitment to overcoming regionalism.[29]
In 2000, Roh was appointed Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries under Kim Dae-jung, and this position would constitute his major government experience prior to the presidency.[30]
Roh got public attention when he participated in candidate election of his party. The candidate election itself also got high public attention because it allowed the vote not only from the party members, but also the local citizens. At first, his approval rate was 10%, allowing much gap with leading candidate Lee In-Jae, but Roh constantly earned much supporters by his notable speeches, especially in Ulsan,[31] and the result of poll that Roh's approval rate was 41.7%, 1.1% higher than the Lee Hoi-chang, candidate of the opponent party, convinced the voters of his party.[32]
Roh won the presidency on 19 December 2002, by defeating Lee Hoi-chang with a narrow 2% margin of victory. At 2003, right before his inauguration, he described his plan as "I will root the method of discussion inside the government.", and added, "discussion should be familiarized until we are called 'Republic of discussion'."[33]
Retirement and post-presidency (2008–2009)
After leaving office, Roh retired to Bongha Maeul, a small village in his hometown. This marked a break with previous custom, where former presidents retired to heavily guarded houses in Seoul.[75] Bongha – a village of 121 people – became a major tourist attraction due to Roh's presence.[75]
Bribery allegations
On 4 December 2008, Roh Moo-hyun's elder brother, Roh Gun-Pyeong, was indicted on charges of illegally taking 3 million won ($3,000) from former Daewoo Engineering & Construction and imprisoned.
On 7 April 2009, Chung Sang-Moon, the former secretary of Roh Moo-hyun, was arrested on charges.
In early 2009, allegations of corruption had begun to surface regarding the former President's family and aides, eventually leading to the indictment of Roh's elder brother Roh Gun-Pyeong on suspicion of influence peddling.[76][77] The investigation soon expanded to encompass Roh Moo-Hyun's aides,[78] as well as other members of his family.[79] As the investigation closed in on Roh's former secretary, Chung Sang-Moon, Roh announced on his website that "The accusation should be directed at our household,[80] not Chung. Our household made the request, received money and used it."[81] At the same time, Roh claimed that he himself had not known of the money transfer before his retirement. By May 2009, prosecutors had summoned Roh's wife,[82] son,[83] and eventually the former president himself[84] on suspicion of receiving 1 million dollars in bribes from Park Yeon-Cha, a businessman close to the ex-President. Roh was subject to initial written questioning by prosecutors,[85] before direct questioning, prior to which he apologized again to the public and stated that "he was overwhelmed by shame."[86]
Kang Kum-won was another Roh's long time supporter whose business was under thorough investigation by The Supreme Prosecutors' Office (SPO). Even if Kang was Roh's closest long time supporter, he did not expand his business during Roh's presidency to avoid unnecessary suspicion of special benefits. However, his parole was denied during the investigation despite his terminal illness of brain cancer until Roh's death.[87]
Roh's investigation for corruption came after he had campaigned on pledges to "clean up the presidency,"[88] and root out corruption, while condemning his opponents as hopelessly corrupt.[89]
In one speech to commemorate the 20th anniversary of Korea's "June Struggle" for democracy, Roh vehemently attacked critics who described him as incompetent, stating, "They even deal out the absurd rhetoric that they would rather have a corrupt administration than an inept one while openly revealing their true colors as forces of corruption and the security-driven dictatorships of the past. What's more, they label the democratic forces as being inept, plotting to rise to power on the back of the nostalgia for the development-oriented dictatorships of the past."[90]
Roh's characteristically self-righteous stance resulted in harsh condemnation of the ex-President for hypocrisy.[91] In response to the pervasive criticism upon Roh's bribery charges, he stated on his website, "I have lost my moral cause just with the facts I have so far admitted. The only thing left is the legal procedure".[92] Roh further added, "What I have to do now is bow to the nation and apologize. From now on, the name Roh cannot be a symbol of the values you pursue. I'm no longer qualified to speak about democracy and justice.... You should abandon me."[93] Despite these appeals, Roh continued to deny all knowledge of the receipt of money by his family from Park Yeon-Cha, in contradiction to Park's testimony.[94] Roh refused cross-examination with Park.[95]
In contrast to scandals involving previous presidents, who reportedly used illicit funds close to $500 million to finance political campaigns and their family activities,[96] Roh's family had to use borrowed funds close to $1.5 million from a friend for personal use, such as the payment of living expenses for study in the United States.[97]
Legacy
In January 2010, dissatisfaction with the poor electoral showing of the minority Democratic Party, and a posthumous reappraisal of Roh Moo-hyun's presidency spurred the creation of a new party, the "Participation Party". This party was created to "revive the spirit of former President Roh Moo-hyun."[126][127][128][129]
One of Roh's biggest accomplishments was revising regulations for political fundraising, which even one of his harshest critics praises.[130] Before the revision, previous presidential candidates received more than $300 million hush money from leaving president to run the presidential campaign. During Roh's initial campaign for the presidency, civilians donated their piggy banks raising close to $1.2 million, but not enough to match about $12 million his opponent raised.[131]
The Institute for Future Korea (한국미래발전연구원) is established for researching and promoting Roh Moo-hyun's social ideas.[132]
A leaked American diplomatic cable to South Korea revealed that Roh Moo-hyun expressed concerns how the US government mistreated North Korea.[133]
Lee In-gyu (이인규), the former head of the SPO released his book on the involvements of the political corruptions surrounding the investigation against Roh that led to his suicide.[134] In his book, Lee acknowledged that the South Korean National Intelligence Service had intentionally released overly sensational stories about President Roh's bribery charges.
In 2010, a year after his death, the politicians who were Roh's aides won the local elections and became the provincial government heads. In January 2012, Han Myung-Sook who had been one of the prime ministers in Roh's tenure was elected party leader of the biggest opposition party, Democratic United Party. She officially made clear "succession of Roh's policy".[135] Although his policy was regarded as failure when he was in the position, it has been reevaluated as liberal and nationalistic, compared to Lee Myung-Bak's authoritarian and pro-US policy.[136] Even a conservative professor, Lee Sang-don, who had severely criticized Roh's policy, said that "Roh became a myth (of our age)."[137]
On the 10th anniversary of his passing, former US President George W. Bush paid respects at the annual memorial ceremony for Roh Moo-hyun.[138]
He was ranked first in the 2019 Gallup South Korea survey asking for the greatest president.[17]
In popular culture
The 2013 film The Attorney starring Song Kang-ho is a dramatic adaptation of Roh's early human rights law career. It became the eighth highest-grossing film in South Korean history at the time of its release, and was the second-highest grossing South Korean film of 2013 behind Miracle in Cell No. 7.[139][140]