YONHAP NEWS

Former President Roh dies, leaves behind brief suicide note

SEOUL, May 23 (Yonhap) -- Former President Roh Moo-hyun, long beleaguered by bribery allegations, jumped to his death off a cliff behind his home in southern South Korea Saturday after leaving a brief suicide note to his family, his lawyer and police said.

Roh, who served a five-year term that ended in February 2008, threw himself from a precipice 30 meters high early Saturday morning while hiking behind his rural residence in Bongha Village, about 450 kilometers south of Seoul, they said.

   Roh, 62, was immediately rushed to Pusan National University Hospital, where he was pronounced dead from external head injuries at 9:30 a.m., according to hospital doctors and police.

   In a suicide note left on his personal computer just an hour before he left home, Roh spoke of emotional suffering, the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency said in a briefing.

   "I'm indebted to too many people. The pain that I caused to so many people is too great. The pain in the coming days is unfathomable," Roh said in the note disclosed by police.

   "Due to my frail health, I cannot do anything. I cannot read or write. Don't be too sad. Don't blame anyone. Life and death are identical parts of nature. It's fate," the note said. It also conveyed his desire to be cremated and that a small headstone be set up near his home.

   Police said they were still investigating Roh's death to determine if in fact it was a suicide.

   News of the apparent suicide, which quickly reached media outlets at home and abroad, deeply stunned South Korean citizens and politicians, as well as foreign leaders. President Lee Myung-bak expressed his deep condolences.

   "It is truly hard to believe what happened. It is a sad, tragic incident," Lee was quoted by his spokesman as saying. The spokesman, Lee Dong-kwan, explained that President Lee was visibly shocked by the report of Roh's death after being briefed by his aides during a meeting with visiting president of the Czech Republic, Vaclav Klaus.

   The president immediately sent his chief of staff and political affairs secretary to Roh's home village to offer his condolences to the family.

   Rival parties issued statements, while former South Korean presidents Chun Doo-hwan, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung also expressed words of condolence through their aides.

   "I'm deeply saddened. It is a big shock ... I feel like I've lost a half of myself," Kim Dae-jung said through his aide.

   Foreign leaders, including Japanese Prime Minister Taro Aso and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen, also offered their sympathies. The Cambodian leader told Korean reporters, "I don't know how to express my sadness. I express sincere, deep condolences ... I can't contain my sadness over the news."
The late Roh had been put under mounting pressure as prosecutors were narrowing their investigation into the former leader and his family, including his wife Kwon Yang-sook. His elder brother and several political confidants were recently placed under arrest on separate corruption charges.

   Roh's only elder brother, Gun-pyeong, was sentenced to a four-year jail term on May 14 for receiving billions of won in return for peddling influence in the buyout of an ailing brokerage firm by a state-run company in 2006.

   His brother's conviction may have dealt an additional blow to the embattled former president, who was facing a second summons by prosecutors, possibly next week, for questioning over whether he received bribes from Park Yeon-cha, chairman of shoemaker Taekwang Industry, during his presidency.

   The former first lady and one of her in-laws were alleged to have accepted at least $6 million from the Taekwang chairman between 2006 and 2008, but prosecutors suspect that Roh was the intended recipient of those bribes. Roh was summoned on April 30 and underwent 10 hours of intensive questioning.

   Amid criticism that the investigation was politically motivated, Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han announced Saturday afternoon that an ongoing probe of the Roh family would be terminated.

   "I believe the ongoing investigation of Roh will be concluded," Kim said in a statement. "We are deeply shocked and saddened by former President Roh's abrupt death."

   Hundreds of Roh's supporters and lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party, who gathered at Bongha Village, denounced prosecutors for having conducted an "unreasonable and indiscriminate" investigation into the Roh family that led the former president to kill himself. They also expressed anger at local media organizations for biased reports on Roh's probe.

   Some 800 supporters of Roh gathered in downtown Seoul Saturday afternoon and briefly clashed with police as they attempted to install an altar in memory of the late president at a square in front of Seoul City Hall.

   Prime Minister Han Seung-soo presided over a meeting of several Cabinet ministers to discuss the government's follow-up measures, including funeral procedures. "The government will fully respect the intentions of Roh's bereaved family in preparing for his funeral," a government official said after the meeting.

   Roh's funeral is expected to be held at Bongha Village, where Roh's body was transferred from Pusan university hospital.

   Paek Seung-wan, chief of the hospital, said in a news conference that Roh died due to a head injury.

   "At the time of his arrival at the hospital at 8:23 a.m., he was unconscious and couldn't breathe on his own. A laceration measuring 11 centimeters was found on the front part of his head. Doctors attempted cardiopulmonary resuscitation but suspended it at 9:30 a.m. as he failed to recover," said Paek.

   Kwon, the former first lady, is said to have fainted after her husband's death was confirmed at the hospital.

   Roh is known for spearheading sweeping political and social changes during his five year term as president, challenging conventional diplomacy and actively seeking reconciliation with North Korea.

   Roh, a self-made man with a distinctly down-to-earth image, was long viewed as a maverick politician who had desperately campaigned against political regionalism, corruption and social polarization.

   While pushing for radical political reforms, Roh was impeached by the conservative opposition party in March 2004 but was reinstated in a ruling by the Constitutional Court two months later.

   On the diplomatic front, Roh's push for liberal policies had culminated in the signing of a free trade agreement with the U.S. and historic summit talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, both in 2007.

His opponents describe him as a dangerous and unstable radical, while supporters celebrate him as a man of principle who never sought personal comfort or the quick route to fame.

   Roh was born in 1946 to a poor peasant family living in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province.

   After graduating from a vocational high school in 1966, he was forced to work as a manual laborer at construction sites in his early 20s because he could not afford a college education.

   He passed the state-administered bar examination in 1975, an almost unimaginable feat for a man with no college background considering the extreme competitiveness of the system, and worked as a judge for eight months before opening a private legal practice in 1978.

   After pursuing a 10-year career as a human rights advocate, Roh decided in the late 1980s to enter politics under the endorsement of the then opposition leader Kim Young-sam, who was later elected president.

   After Roh was elected South Korean president in December 2002 with overwhelming Internet-organized support from young voters and liberal activists, he embarked on policies to overhaul the country's corruption-ridden politics and social and economic inequalities.

   Other major policy agendas pursued by the Roh government included the establishment of Korea as a business hub in Northeast Asia, the expansion of social welfare, the pursuit of balanced national development to benefit underdeveloped areas, reform of the education and tax systems and labor-management relations.

   Throughout his term, Roh triggered diplomatic rows by sticking to nationalist tones in diplomacy with the U.S. and Japan, while unsuccessfully attempting to relocate the South Korean capital and form a coalition with opposition parties.

   In the final years of his presidency, Roh was beleaguered by allegations of incompetence, as his frequent indulgence in personal clashes with conservative media, political opponents and critics sent his public approval ratings downward to just over 10 percent.

   Presidential polls held in December 2007 showing Roh's plummeting popularity led to the defeat of the then ruling party candidate and the victory of the conservative candidate and current President Lee Myung-bak.

   ycm@yna.co.kr
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