By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
More than 57 percent of people believe that political retaliation led former President Roh Moo-hyun to commit suicide last month, according to the latest poll released Monday.
The poll, conducted by the Hankook Ilbo newspaper to mark its 55th anniversary today, found that only 38.8 percent of those surveyed believed his death had nothing to do with political retaliation, versus 57.1 percent who said it did.
The survey of 1,000 people, conducted from Saturday to Sunday, has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points. The Hankook Ilbo is a sister paper of The Korea Times.
According to the survey, 63.8 percent said that the corruption investigation of the late President was unfair, while only 25.6 percent said it was fair.
The results of the survey showed that many people believe prosecutors had not properly investigated President Lee Myung-bak's aides while targeting a corrupt link between Roh, his aides and the businessman.
Before his death, Roh was questioned for allegedly taking more than $6 million during his presidency from one of his friends, Park Yeon-cha, chief executive officer of Busan-based shoemaker Taekwang.
About 40.3 percent said the media was more responsible than any other entity for the death of the former President.
Respondents also singled out Roh and his family (38.2 percent), President Lee Myung-bak (36.6 percent) and the prosecution (31.8 percent) as those responsible for Roh's suicide.