By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Roh Jae-hun, the only son of former President Roh Tae-woo, has begun working as a lawyer in Korea at a local law firm in Seoul.
Roh, who previously worked for the Hong Kong branch of White & Case, one of the top ten law firms in the world, said he wrapped up his career there to work for Barun Law in Daechi-dong, Seoul.
According to Kim Dong-gun, acting representative partner of the firm, Roh made the decision in order to stay near his father, who recently fell ill following a prostate operation in 2002. ``The former president also welcomed his decision,'' he added.
Roh started working at Barun from May 1, but at the moment is staying in Hong Kong to manage some leftover business.
His company said that Roh's experience in business law attracted them and that he even ran a consulting firm of his own.
Roh graduated from Seoul National University majoring in business in 1988 and got a master's degree in politics from Stanford University in the United States the following year.
He walked a political path in 1991 by working as a secretary for Park Jun-kyu, then chairman of the National Assembly, but gave it up when his father was arrested on charges of suppressing the Gwangju Pro-Democracy Movement that took place back in 1980.
He flew to the U.S after taking care of his father who was imprisoned, and graduated from Georgetown University Law Center, passing the bar exam in New York State. Roh was rumored to be running for numerous local elections, but he never showed up in the political field again.
He was back in the limelight when it was revealed he made more than 14 billion won in profits from selling his 9.47 percent stake in Telcoware, a telecommunication solution company in 2005.