Shaved head of Roh Moo-hyun's son catches eyes
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Roh Geon-ho, son of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, speaks during a memorial ceremony for his father at Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province. / Joint press corps
By Choi Ha-young
The latest memorial ceremony for former President Roh Moo-hyun was full of stories ― many of them about President Moon Jae-in’s friendship with him.
But what made the ceremony more memorable was a bald Roh Geon-ho, the son of the former president.
“Before giving my thank-you message to all here, I think I need to explain why I shaved my head,” he said in an opening speech. “My new hairstyle is not a political gesture or expression of my anger against society. And of course, I don’t have any religious intent.”
Laughter broke the solemn atmosphere. He said he shaved his head because he hated losing his hair.
“I offer my sincere condolences to all citizens who are suffering from hair loss. Misery loves company,” Roh said. “Luckily, my hair is growing again.”
His joke spiced up the ceremony. Even his mother, Roh’s widow Kwon Yang-sook, stopped crying and smiled for a short time. President Moon Jae-in, the late Roh’s longtime friend and his political heir, and first lady Kim Jung-sook burst into laughter.
The younger Roh’s humorous comment reminded some people of the deceased symbolic figure, who captured people’s hearts with his easygoing attitude. “Roh Geon-ho inherited not only his eyes but also a sense of humor from his father,” netizen Ha Sung-tae tweeted, Tuesday.
Later, Roh expressed his deep longing for his father, who jumped to his death under the pressure of a prosecution investigation in 2009, allegedly controlled by the then conservative administration.
“To this day, I still don’t understand whether he walked the road that history had already designed, or pioneered a new phrase of history across the eras,” he said. “If he was alive, he would have enjoyed a glass of rice wine.”
In the memorial service in 2015, Roh drew public attention by lashing out at Rep. Kim Moo-sung, a conservative politician. “Special thanks to the one participant who virtually put the former president to death,” he said.
Since September 2013, Roh has been in the doctoral program in Beijing University. Despite public attention, he has stepped away from politics.