Name | Roh Moo-hyeon노무현盧武鉉 |
---|---|
Order | 16th President of the Republic of Korea |
Primeminister | Goh KunLee Hae ChanHan Myung-sookHan Duck-soo |
Term start | 25 February 2003 |
Term end | 25 February 2008 |
Predecessor | Kim Dae-jung |
Successor | Lee Myung-bak |
Birth date | September 01, 1946 |
Birth place | Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea |
Death date | May 23, 2009 (aged 62) |
Death place | Gimhae, Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea |
Party | Uri Party (2003-2007)Millennium Democratic Party (1997-2003)Democratic Party (1990-1997)Unified Democratic Party (1988-1990) |
Spouse | Kwon Yang-sook |
Religion | None |
Branch | Republic of Korea Army |
Rank | Sergeant |
Title | Korean name |
---|---|
Hangul | 노무현 |
Hanja | |
Rr | No Muhyeon |
Mr | No Muhyŏn |
Tablewidth | 265 |
Color | lavender |
Roh Moo-hyun () GOM GCB (1 September 1946 – 23 May 2009) was the 16th President of South Korea (2003–2008).
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, particularly at the website OhMyNews, which aided his success in the presidental election.
Roh's election was notable for the arrival in power of a new generation of Korean politicians, the so-called 386 Generation, (i.e. people in their thirties when the term was coined, who had attended university in the 1980s, and who were born in the 1960s). 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 USA.
Despite high initial hopes, his presidency encountered strong opposition from the conservative Grand National Party and media. They constantly accused him of incompetence, and insulting criticism was frequently published in the media. As a result, many of Roh's policies, including a plan to move the capital, and a plan to form a coalition with the opposition, were also attacked and made no progress.
After leaving office, Roh returned to his hometown of Bongha Maeul. The constantly growing numbers of visits by his political supporters were seen as a threat to the Grand National Party. Fourteen months later, Roh was suspected of bribery by prosecutors, and the subsequent investigation attracted public attention. This scandal, the collapse of the "Pro-Roh faction" of politicians, the collapse of the Uri Party and the defeat of its successor the Democratic Party in the National Assembly, and the defeat of Roh's designated successor in the presidential elections, marked a decline in the political fortunes of the 386 Generation that had brought Roh to power.
Roh committed suicide on 23 May 2009 by jumping from a mountain cliff, after leaving a suicide note on his personal computer. His suicide was confirmed by police.
Roh Moo-Hyun was born into a poor farming family on 1 September 1946, in Bongha village near Gimhae and Busan, in southeastern South Korea. His parents had three boys and two girls, and Roh was the youngest of his family. In 1953 he entered Dae Chang elementary school. His received high grades, but he was quite often absent from school quite to assist his parents. When he was a sixth grader, 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 he was caught and suspended from the school.
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 become a lawyer.
In 1981, he defended students who had been tortured for 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." In 1985 he started to participate in civic movement by assuming permanant power of attorney on behalf of the Busan council of citizen democracy. He opposed the autocratic regime in place at the time in South Korea, and participated in the pro-democracy June Struggle in 1987 against Chun Doo-hwan.
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". In 1991, before the election of the national assembly, the Weekly Chosun posted a 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.
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, instead criticising the party and Kim Dae-jung. In 1996, he ran for the Assembly seat for Jung-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 presidental election, after the Democratic Liberal Party merged with the Unified 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 bye-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. His supporters were inspired by his commitment to overcoming regionalism.
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.
Roh got public attention when he participated in candidate election of his party. At first, his approval rate was 10%, but his notable speech in Ulsan earned him much supporters, 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.
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'."
As his policy for eradicating corruption inside the government had included many administrative reforms, he had to face high oppositions. During the reformation of the prosecution, to resolve the opposition, he suggested a TV forum. The prosecutors insisted that Roh appointed the major positions of the prosecutor's office without consulting the personnel committee, and the Roh answered that "The current members of the personnel comitee themselves represents the old prosecution which has to be changed, if we do not change now, it would sustain the old prosecution at least few months." Three months into his presidency, He commented about the opposition problem, stating "I'm worrying the opposition that maybe I cannot continue the presinency while I get that much of it." That comment was quoted partly by conservative media, ('I cannot continue the presidency') and Roh was bolstered skepticism about his ability and experience. Roh set the tone of his administration with a number of political gambles, and measures to uncover and reveal the names of the descendants of Japanese collaborators. The investigations, criticized by opposition parties as a covert means of attacking them, and coming too late to provide substantive redress, mostly resulted in damage to his own party members.
The National Assembly's attempt to impeach Roh was largely opposed by the public. From March 12, 2004, to March 27, protest against the impeachment motion was led by 'citizen's movement for eradicating corruption'. According to the police, 50,000 people gathered to protest in March 13 alone. .
Although Roh's popularity had hovered around 30%, the impeachment was took as a power struggle against the political reform and the choice of the citizen, and Roh's popularity went up soon after the assembly's vote to impeach Roh. The results of the April 2004 parliamentary election showed public support for him, with the Uri Party winning a majority of seats.
On 14 May 2004, the Constitutional Court overturned the impeachment decision, restoring Roh as President. After the incident, Roh joined the Uri party as a member, officially making the Uri party as the ruling party.
With the controversies concerning the capital, perceptions of neglect and mismanagement of the economy had grown. Although exports performed at record levels and the economy grew, growth still lagged behind both the previous administration and the rest of the world, while the domestic economy stagnated. At the same time regulations proliferated, investment capital exited the country, unemployment (especially among the young) increased, wealthy students flocked overseas as the education system stagnated, and housing prices in Seoul soared far beyond the reach of the average citizen. Roh responded by dismissing criticism as "shameless mudslinging,"and touted the achievements of his government in increasing national competitiveness, strengthening the economy, and pumping up stock prices. This somewhat cavalier attitude led to his Uri Party suffering consecutive defeats in the Assembly, before eventually collapsing. Roh's unpopularity had become a liability for his party, and a new party was needed to disassociate from him. The Uri Party would thus be revamped and renamed as the Democratic Party, and is currently the main opposition party in the National Assembly.
Roh's ambitious initial promises to establish Korea as an international business hub in Asia faded soon after his election. Instead, Korea under Roh suffered negative publicity in the foreign business community due to prosecutorial investigations on the purchase and sale of Korea Exchange Bank by the Lone Star Fund, spurring foreign investors to join their domestic counterparts in leaving the country. When housing prices soared, Roh responded by drastically raising taxes and imposing price controls, rather than allowing developers to increase supply. This decreased the supply of housing available. At the same time, Roh also increased welfare spending by 18% a year, and drastically increased spending by increasing the size of the civil service by more than 95,700 new hires, or approximately 60 people a day. Criticism of lax discipline among the civil service and police force was high during his reign.
The remainder of Roh's term was characterized by a number of desultory campaigns pursued to varying degrees of success and completion. One of the more successful campaigns (at least during his term) was Roh's pursuit of an FTA with the United States, concluded in April 2007 after many months of negotiations by Kim Hyun-jong, the deputy minister for trade. Roh successfully pushed for the FTA in spite of domestic opposition from his traditional leftist constituency (who denounced it as "neoliberal") and various groups (particularly farmers) opposed to market opening. The FTA, however, is as of yet unratified in the legislatures of both countries.
Roh's proposal for the grand coalition stirred yet another national controversy. Many called his plan "reckless and completely ignorant" of the sentiments of people still ailing from repeated political controversies and economic hardships. Many of the Opened We Party's supporters who identify as liberals were enraged at Roh holding that his party was not really different from the conservative opposition. The Grand National Party, enjoying relatively strong approval rate but still bent on revenge for the party's defeat in major elections, repeatedly declined to initiate a negotiation for the coalition. While the Opened We Party grudgingly supported the President's proposal, a lawmaker defected from the party in protest of Roh's plan, and the loss of popularity was felt when the party suffered yet another complete defeat in the by-election on 26 October 2005, this time including one of the party's stronghold electoral districts. Roh's plan was scrapped, having failed to garner support from either political faction.
Roh was perceived as an anti-American before the presidential race, which was not a handicap during the presidential campaign. Public antipathy to the United States was prevalent in 2002, particularly evoked by the incident where two South Korean middle school girls were crushed to death by a U.S. Army armored bridge-laying vehicle (an AVLB). The American soldiers involved were tried by a U.S. Army court martial, but the Roh Administration continued to demand a South Korean trial, despite the clear and obvious fact that the incident occurred 'on duty' (as part of a convoy) and thus was a US responsibility under the Status of Forces Agreement between the US and South Korea.
However, except for the policy toward the North Korea, Row was supportive toward U.S. He deployed troop to Iraq in support of the U.S. led military campaign. Roh explained the deployment as only a peacekeeping mission and claimed that such commitment was required to bring favor from the U.S. in resolving the North Korean nuclear crisis.
In February 2006, Roh announced that South Korea would initiate negotiations with the U.S. for a free trade agreement.
Many including Roh's former economic advisor expressed concerns that the government was acting hastily and the effect of the agreement would be detrimental to certain sectors of the nation's economy such as agriculture. Despite such opposition, Roh repeatedly supported the idea.
In April 2007, Roh presided over an emergency meeting of his aides to discuss the diplomatic fallout from the massacre at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the United States by a South Korean student, Cho Seung-hui, concerning its negative impact on South Korea-U.S. relations. They were discussing comprehensive measures to cope with the unprecedented incident, including issuance of presidential messages of apology and plans to prevent possible harassment of South Koreans living in the United States. Roh issued two messages of condolence already on April 17, 2007.
South Korea's relationship with Japan was in a healthy condition when Roh entered office. However, his first visit to the neighboring country in 2003 was scheduled on a date that coincided with Korean Memorial Day.
During the visit, Roh proclaimed he would not seek any more apologies from Japan over its colonial occupation, in the hope of maintaining a friendly relationship between the two countries. Although Roh's proclamation was made in good faith, some expressed concern that Japan may have interpreted this as the termination of its responsibility for the colonial past, and use it as an excuse to deny any claims for compensation that may arise in the future.
Despite Roh's hope, relations with Japan deteriorated henceforth, in several areas of conflict such as compensation issues for comfort women, denial of the colonial past in Japanese history textbooks, and disputes over the Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima). Another sensitive issue, former Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi's repeated visits to Yasukuni Shrine were harshly criticized in South Korea, and Roh declared no further meetings with Koizumi would take place unless he stopped visiting the shrine.
Although being on bad terms with Japan, a very important trading and tourism partner, was not in Korea's national interest, Roh himself benefited from the disputes. His approval rating saw a momentary surge with every breakout of disputes, and he took advantage of the situation in a number of nationally televised speeches dealing with diplomatic issues.
In an address to the nation on 25 April 2006 regarding disputes over the Liancourt Rocks, Roh reaffirmed that he didn't seek another apology from Japan, but demanded that Japan take action in compliance with its past apologies. The speech was applauded by many Koreans despite Roh's low popularity. The then-Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi characterized the speech as intended for domestic audiences.
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. It soon became clear that investigation would have to expand to encompass Roh Moo-Hyun's aides, as well as other members of his family. As the investigation closed in on Roh's former secretary, Chung Sang-Moon, Roh made the surprise announcement on his website that "The accusation should be directed at our household, not Chung. Our household made the request, received money and used it." 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, son, and eventually the former President himself on suspicion of receiving a total of 6 million dollars in bribes from Park Yeon-Cha, a businessman close to the ex-President. Roh was subject to initial written questioning by prosecutors, before direct questioning, prior to which he apologized again to the public and stated that "he was overwhelmed by shame."
Roh's investigation for corruption proved especially disappointing to his supporters because he had campaigned on pledges to "clean up the presidency," and root out corruption, while condemning his opponents as hopelessly corrupt.
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."
Roh's characteristically self-righteous stance resulted in harsh condemnation of the ex-President for hypocrisy when the scandal broke, a criticism he himself acknowledged in a message on his website when he stated, "I have lost my moral cause just with the facts I have so far admitted. The only thing left is the legal procedure" 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." 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. Roh refused cross-examination with Park.
In contrast to scandals involving previous Presidents, who reportedly used illicit funds to finance political campaigns, Roh's family have used borrowed funds for personal use, such as the payment of living expenses for study in the United States.
Roh's death was reported as being a suicide by the South Korean police, though there are many who doubt this conclusion, given the fact that the death was announced as a suicide before any evidence was found. Current President Lee Myung-bak stated that "the news was truly unbelievable and deeply sad." Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han said the corruption case against him would be formally closed. However, he did not say whether the former president's family would continue to be investigated.
Roh's suicide follows the suicide of a number of high profile figures under corruption investigations in Korea in recent years, including the former secretary of Prime Minister Kim Young-chul, former Busan mayor Ahn Sang-Young (who committed suicide while in prison), Park Tae-young, former governor of Jeolla province, and Chung Mong-hun, a former Hyundai executive. Roh himself had been sued by the widow of former Daewoo E&C; head Nam Sang-Guk for allegedly making defamatory comments that drove her husband to throw himself off of a bridge. Roh's suicide was followed later in the year by the suicide of another politician, the Mayor of Yangsan, who was being subject to a corruption investigation.
By 27 May, Roh's bodyguard revealed that he was not with the former president when he committed suicide. Roh's public funerary ceremony involved both Buddhist and Catholic rites. Hundreds of thousands of supporters turned out to pay their respects in memorial shrines erected around the country, as did President Lee Myung-bak and numerous other prominent politicians. Sporadic violent demonstrations in Seoul immediately after the funeral resulted in the detention of 72 people.
Roh's suicide resulted in a sudden positive shift in domestic perception towards the late President, leading one critical professor to comment, "How could he become an instant saint upon his suicide?" Such shifting perception once again left President Lee Myung-bak vulnerable to criticism. Perceptions of an excessive investigation on Roh's alleged improprieties boosted support for the opposition Party (itself formed when Roh's then unpopularity made it a liability to be associated with him), giving them enough leverage to demand that President Lee Myung-bak apologize for the "politically motivated" investigation they claimed caused Roh's death, and discipline those responsible. Support for the opposition party increased to 28.3%, outpolling the ruling GNP at 23.5%. The Democratic Party also decided to block the scheduled opening of the National Assembly until the Lee Myung-bak government accepted responsibility for Roh's suicide. The chief prosecutor in Roh's bribery case also resigned. After a year after Roh passed away, his autobiography was published by his personal and political fellows. Based on Roh's previous books, unpublished draft, notes, letters or the interviews, it follows Roh's life from birth to death.
The Institute for Future Korea (한국미래발전연구원) is established for researching and promoting Roh Moo-hyun's social ideas.
Category:Former Roman Catholics Category:Jurists who committed suicide Category:People from Gyeongsangnam-do Category:Politicians who committed suicide Category:Presidents of South Korea Category:Members of the National Assembly of South Korea Category:South Korean lawyers Category:South Korean agnostics Category:Suicides by jumping from a height Category:Suicides in South Korea Category:Impeached officials Category:1946 births Category:2009 deaths Category:South Korean judges Category:Honorary Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath Category:Uri Party politicians Category:Democratic Party (South Korea, 2005) politicians Category:Democratic Party (South Korea) politicians
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