Posthumous Re-evaluation of Rohs Legacy Leads to Nationwide Mourning
By Kang Hyun-kyung
Staff Reporter
There was unconscious consensus that the late President Roh Moo-hyun was not a stereotypical authoritarian leader, and this probably contributed to the posthumous re-evaluation of Roh's legacy, a presidential leadership expert claimed Friday.
``Although Roh's enemies were in discontent due to the two sides' deep differences over major issues while the late President was in office, there was a shared belief about Roh between his supporters and opponents,'' Choi Jin, chief of the Institute of Presidential Leadership in Seoul, told The Korea Times.
``They knew that Roh was human,'' said the leadership expert.
Choi said the view of Roh as a warm person led his supporters and even opponents to join mourning for his passing.
He made the comment after being asked what prompted many people to queue almost every day to pay their respects at altars set up in Seoul, his hometown of Bongha Village in South Gyeongsang Province and other parts of the country.
Since last Saturday, a long queue of mourners has waited from dusk to dawn every day to pay their respects at an altar in Roh's hometown.
Some predicted that the mourning would be continued even after his funeral.
``Being friendly and humble were a Roh trademark. The personal traits were once misinterpreted by the public and his opponents as being too shallow as a national leader,'' said Choi.
The presidential leadership expert noted there was a shift in the public perception of Roh's traits after he committed suicide amid the pressure of the bribery investigation he was undergoing.
``Roh's dramatic choice affected the public to inspect their past interpretation of the personal strength, and they began taking Roh's humble nature as a positive one after his death. I think the public's posthumous re-evaluation of the late Roh's personal nature probably led them to join the long queue of mourners,'' Choi said.
However, Choi drew a clear line between public mourning and Roh's achievements, contending that the collective sadness had little to do with a re-evaluation of his accomplishments while in office.
Rather, it had something to do with people's belated deep compassion and sympathy for the leader who was human, candid and different from his predecessors in the way he dealt with the public, he said.