South Korea's former President Roh Moo-hyun Commits Suicide

He was accused of being a crook and tried to appease North Korea, the combination of both ended up destroying him.

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's former President Roh Moo-hyun, hounded for weeks over his links while in office to a widening corruption scandal, appears to have jumped to his death in the mountains near his home on Saturday, a top aide said.

Local media quoted a note left by Roh which seemed to confirm his intention to commit suicide, asking for his body to be cremated and saying "the rest of my life would only be a burden for others."

The likelihood of suicide could boost public sympathy for opponents of his conservative successor President Lee Myung-bak, whose hard-line policies have largely overturned the more accommodating approach of Roh in key areas such as dealings with prickly North Korea and strike-prone labor unions.

"Former President Roh left his house at 5:45 a.m. and while hiking on the Ponghwa Mountain, appears to have jumped off a rock at around 6:40 a.m.," Moon Jae-in, who was Roh's presidential chief of staff, said in a nationally televised statement.

The 62-year old former human rights lawyer, whose five-year term ended in February 2008, had recently become embroiled in a mounting graft inquiry, the result of confessions by a wealthy shoe manufacturer that he had bribed dozens of officials and politicians, as well as Roh's wife when she was First Lady.

"This is a truly unbelievable, lamentable and deeply sad event," President Lee said in a statement issued by the presidential Blue House.

My sympathy to the family. Its sad, because the North Korean tyrant who killed hundreds of thousands sits happily in power drinking his Scotch and causing trouble, while a person who reached out in good faith to him is now dead. I have no sympathy for the presidents alleged corruption and I scoff at the notion they could work with North Korea, but he surly he deserved a batter fate then this.



The Times on what happened:

President Lee Myung-bak, Mr. Roh’s successor, found the news “difficult to believe,” his office said.

Mr. Roh, who had prided himself on being a clean politician during his term from 2003 to 2008, was questioned for 10 hours on April 30 by state prosecutors over his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal that has already landed some of his relatives and aides in jail.

“I can’t look you in the face because of shame,” Mr. Roh told reporters before he presented himself for questioning by prosecutors in Seoul, who had accused him of taking $6 million in bribes from a businessman while in office. “I apologize for disappointing the people.”

In his last posting on his Web site, on April 22, he wrote, “You should now discard me.”

He added: “I no longer symbolize the values you pursue. I am no longer qualified to speak for such things as democracy, progressiveness and justice.”

His apology was typical for a South Korean politician, who is expected to take moral responsibility for a corruption scandal that implicated aides and relatives, even if Mr. Roh denied most of the bribery allegations against him. But prosecutors had been considering indicting him on bribery charges.

In recent weeks, several of his aides and relatives had been arrested or questioned on charges of taking bribes. His elder brother also was arrested in December on bribery charges.

Prosecutors suspected that Mr. Roh, while president, solicited a total of $6 million from a shoe manufacturer, payments that are alleged to have been made to his wife, his son and his brother’s son-in-law. Both his wife and son have been questioned by the prosecutors.

The Economist on The President:

His term as president was tumultuous. The business community saw him as a leftist maverick intent on re-distributing 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 the Northern dictator, Kim Jong-il.

Mr Roh’s efforts while in office to re-distribute 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 become popular among tourists and the former president would often greet holidaymakers 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.

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