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  • Former South Korean leader kills himself

    The former president of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, who had been under investigation for alleged corruption, has apparently committed suicide.

    A spokesman said Mr Roh, 62, appeared to have jumped into a ravine while mountain climbing near his home and had left a brief suicide note.

    Last month, Mr Roh apologised over allegations his family took $6m in bribes during his 2003-2008 term.

    He never admitted wrongdoing, but said he was sorry for disappointing people.

    "Former President Roh left his house at 0545 (2045 GMT on Friday) and while hiking on the Bonghwa Mountain, appears to have jumped off a rock at around 0640," he said.

    A human rights lawyer, Mr Roh took office in 2003 vowing to fight corruption, but correspondents say his term was a rollercoaster ride, with his Uri party hit by scandal and infighting.

    He was suspended early in 2004, after parliament voted to impeach him over a breach of election rules, but the Constitutional Court later overturned the move and he was reinstated.

    Last month, Mr Roh was questioned over allegations that he had taken more than $6m in bribes from a wealthy shoe manufacturer, Park Yeon-cha, who was indicted in December on separate bribery and tax evasion charges.

    The former president later apologised for the scandal.
    BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Ex-S Korea leader 'kills himself'

    Your textbook corrupt politician. It's sad he succumbed to the pressure, snapped and took his own life, very sad.

    Nebula82.

  • #2
    Very sad and surprising indeed. This piece of VOA news hasn't shown the cause of his fall, but it has some information about his political life. A message was later found by police in his residence that shows he commited suicide.

    VOA News - Former South Korean President Roh Dies After Fall

    Former South Korean President Roh Dies After Fall
    By VOA News
    23 May 2009



    Former S. Korean President Roh Moo-hyun arrives at the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office in Seoul, South Korea, 30 Apr 2009 (file photo)

    South Korean police say former President Roh Moo-Hyun has died in a fall while mountain climbing Saturday.

    Police say that Mr. Roh suffered severe head injuries in the fall and died after being transported from his home town of Gimhae to a hospital in the southern city of Busan.

    They are investigating the cause of the fall.

    Mr. Roh, who was 63 years old, served as president from 2003 to 2008 and was elected on a platform of anti-corruption.

    Earlier this month, he was questioned about allegations that he took more than $6 million in bribes from a businessman while in office.

    Mr. Roh rose to prominence as a human rights lawyer, defending students accused of treason during South Korea's military rule in the 1980s.

    He built a reputation for challenging the authority of then-military dictator Chun Doo-hwan. In 1987, he was arrested and suspended from his law practice on charges of supporting a strike by workers at a shipyard.

    Mr. Roh was the youngest son of a peasant family from the southeastern part of the country. He had no formal education beyond high school and studied law on his own.

    Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.
    http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30894701/

    Roh had been hiking in the village of Bongha on Saturday morning when he threw himself off a mountainside rock, lawyer Moon Jae-in told reporters. In a suicide note left for his family, Roh called life "difficult" and apologized for making "too many people suffer," a TV report said.
    Here's a good introductory essay on his scandal (in Chinese though).

    http://finance.ifeng.com/roll/20090523/697816.shtml
    Last edited by snowhole; 23 May 09,, 09:44.
    夫唯不爭,故天下莫能與之爭。

    Comment


    • #3
      It is difficult to know how history will judge him.

      Comment


      • #4
        He left a suicide note in his computer before he jumped to this death.

        Roh's Final Note Speaks of Pain

        23 May [WSJ] SEOUL -- Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun, who died in an apparent suicide Saturday, wrote in a final note ....

        Mr. Roh typed the 14-sentence note on his personal computer about an hour before apparently leaping from a mountain cliff close to his home near Gimhae, police said.

        He wrote the note in Korean ...

        In full, the note said:

        "I am indebted to so many people. Pain they had to suffer because of me was too much. Pain to be received is also incalculable. Rest of my life will be nothing but burden to others. Because of bad health, I can't do anything. I can't read books, I can't write either.

        "Don't be too sad. Wouldn't life and death be a part of the nature? Don't be sorry. Don't resent anyone. It's destiny.

        "Cremate. And leave a tiny tombstone near home. It's a long time thought."

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Merlin View Post

          "I am indebted to so many people. Pain they had to suffer because of me was too much. Pain to be received is also incalculable. Rest of my life will be nothing but burden to others."
          T Bliar , G Bush , G Clown ,M/Ps , take note .
          Last edited by tankie; 24 May 09,, 18:15.

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          • #6
            Originally posted by tankie View Post
            T Bliar , G Bush , G Clown ,M/Ps , take note .
            Huh! I know there are many clowns around. But who is G Clown?

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Merlin View Post
              Huh! I know there are many clowns around. But who is G Clown?
              I think he means Gordon Brown. I'd throw in the guy who used taxpayer money to clean his moat too.
              sigpic

              Win nervously lose tragically - Reds C C

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              • #8
                Originally posted by Bigfella View Post
                I think he means Gordon Brown. I'd throw in the guy who used taxpayer money to clean his moat too.
                Yup ;)

                Comment


                • #9
                  Roh may not have intended this outcome by his suicide. But it may cause the political rifts of S Korea to get deepened.

                  Suicide may deepen Korea’s political rifts
                  24 May [FT] ... On an early Saturday morning ramble, Roh Moo-hyun, the former leftist president distracted his bodyguard and hurled himself from this rocky outcrop, police said. His suicide has sparked a nationwide outpouring of grief and the government will have to act quickly and sensitively to stop the death opening up South Korea’s precarious political fault-lines.

                  Mr Roh, who left office last year, was waiting to hear whether he would face an embarrassing court case, possibly on charges of corruption or tax evasion. Regardless of the verdict, he faced seeing his reputation as Mr Clean tarnished forever. His angry supporters, primarily among the young, accuse right-wingers of pressuring the prosecutors.

                  “I came not just to offer my respects to the dead but to criticise the current government,” said Lee Jeong-hyun, 22, a student who had joined the thousands of mourners queuing at a Buddhist shrine in central Seoul. “Mr Roh was put under huge emotional pressure.”

                  Seeking to head off such accusations, Lee Myung-bak, the country’s conservative president, has been quick to offer his condolences and has pledged to visit Mr Roh’s home village to pay his respects. Within hours of the suicide, prosecutors said they were halting all investigations into Mr Roh’s family.

                  On Saturday night, thousands of police gathered at squares and metro stations, ready to snuff out any potential protests.

                  Despite this immediate fire-fighting, there remains a long-term risk that Mr Roh’s death could inflame debate in South Korea’s famously polarised and emotional politics.

                  “People are worried about the politicisation of his death. There are elements in society who will try to take advantage of this tragedy,” said Mo Jong-ryn, a politics professor at Yonsei University in Seoul.

                  Students, unions and Buddhists all pose worries for the government.

                  Mr Roh forged his reputation as a lawyer representing unionists in the struggle for democracy against military rule in the 1980s. The unions remain a powerful force and Mr Lee’s government will attempt to sap their power through a raft of reforms that begin this summer. ...

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by tankie View Post
                    T Bliar , G Bush , G Clown ,M/Ps , take note .
                    In that way CCP would probably lose tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of members.
                    夫唯不爭,故天下莫能與之爭。

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by snowhole View Post
                      In that way CCP would probably lose tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of members.

                      if all the corrupt politicians jumped at the same time, would the weight shift knock the earth off its axis?

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by zraver View Post
                        if all the corrupt politicians jumped at the same time, would the weight shift knock the earth off its axis?

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by zraver View Post
                          if all the corrupt politicians jumped at the same time, would the weight shift knock the earth off its axis?
                          I don't think they would necessarily jump. You know, Roh's sin was that his family member (older brother mainly) accepted bribes and although he probably knew about it, he just stood by. I still regard him as an honourable man. As for those reeeeeeal corrupt politicians, I can't think of what extreme means they would take. Let's just hope they don't polute the oceans or rivers...
                          夫唯不爭,故天下莫能與之爭。

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Some development.

                            Kim Jong Il sends condolences to Roh Moo Hyun's family_|_Xinhua English

                            (Roh's government was widely regarded as friendly towards the DPRK, while the current one is not so)

                            Former S Korean president's family asks to hold funeral in Seoul_|_Xinhua English
                            夫唯不爭,故天下莫能與之爭。

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