Rollercoaster Ride of Life
By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The late President Roh Moo-hyun's life was a rollercoaster ride. Rising from a humble background, he took up the country's highest office.
Roh was born in 1946 to peach and chicken farmers in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.
He studied on his own and passed the bar exam in 1975. In a society that pays obsessive attention to educational credentials, his success later became both an asset and liability.
As a lawyer, he defended students and labor activists who opposed military dictatorships and their cronies in industry. He was jailed for three weeks in 1987 for aiding an illegal strike.
Entering Politics
The human rights lawyer entered politics in 1988 when he won a parliament seat in the Junggu district of Busan with the nowdefunct opposition Reunification Democratic Party led by Kim Young-sam, who later won the presidential election in 1992.
Roh subsequently rose to stardom when he threw his parliamentary nameplate at former President Chun Doo-hwan, who suppressed the 1980 democratic movement in Gwangju, South Jeolla Province, and seized power after a military coup and during a National Assembly hearing in 1989.
His political ordeal began in 1990 when Kim Young-sam decided to form a coalition with then-ruling conservative political parties in a political realignment ahead of the 1992 presidential race. Roh opposed the coalition and stayed with the liberal opposition party.
After that, he would fail to win a parliamentary seat until 2000. His defeats, however, resulted in creation of the ``Nosamo'' supporter group, the first political fan club of its kind in South Korea. The supporters were inspired by Roh's commitment to overcoming regionalism. Later he served as a fisheries minister under the Kim Dae-jung administration.
Election Drama
Roh's victory in the 2002 presidential race was dramatic and surprised even him. He defeated conservative political heavyweight Lee Hoi-chang by a margin of just two percentage points.
Observers say Roh's victory was largely attributable to Nosamo-led Internet campaign that successfully wooed support from young voters and a wave of anti-American sentiment that had swept the country in the previous year following the death of two school girls hit by a U.S. armored vehicle.
``Success depends 70 percent on luck and 30 percent on talent,'' Roh said early in his presidency.
Ups and Downs in Office
Since taking office, Roh laid out a host of ambitious ``reform'' plans but his office was involved in frequent political wrangling with opponents and even his own party members.
His agenda included the continuance of the ``sunshine'' policy of engaging the North, the relocation of the capital, reform of education, tax and judicial systems and a recasting of the relationship with the United States.
Shortly after becoming the head of state, Roh bolted from his Millennium Democratic Party and created a splinter party with a small group of his core supporters.
Though Roh's new Uri Party secured a majority seats in the Assembly after the unsuccessful 2004 presidential impeachment bid by opponents, the center-left party saw its popularity plung following Roh's failure in managing state affairs.
Roh's liberal forces lost to the conservative forces in the 2007 presidential election where former Seoul Mayor Lee Myung-bak of the GNP won a landslide victory.
After Retirement
After leaving office, Roh went back to his hometown, Bongha village, hoping to live an ordinary farmer's life in his remaing days, but scandals haunted him. An investigation found that classified data of Cheong Wa Dae disappeared before President Lee took office. Roh retured the computer archives to Lee's office later.
Last month, Roh was questioned over allegations that he had taken more than $6 million in bribes from Park Yeon-cha, a shoe manufacturer CEO who was indicted in December on separate bribery and tax evasion charges.
The former president later apologized for the scandal. Prosecutors believed Roh had received the money to help his son and daughter in the United States.
Roh admitted his wife had received $1 million from Park but argued it was a payment to help her settle a debt. He also said he was aware that the businessman had given another $5 million to a relative, but that he thought it was an investment.
After Roh jumped to his death near his home Saturday, Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han said the corruption case against him would be formally closed.