SOUTH KOREA: South Koreans mourn for late President Roh one year after his suicide

Record ID: 521966

  • Title: SOUTH KOREA: South Koreans mourn for late President Roh one year after his suicide
  • Date: 24th May 2010
  • Summary: PEOPLE WITH FLOWERS AND PICTURES OF ROH
  • Embargoed: 8th June 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Obituaries,Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA6PEGOI9DJX36C6E3UIBF5YT4H
  • Story Text: South Koreans mourned for late President Roh Moo-hyun on Sunday (May 23), commemorating the first anniversary of his suicide.
    Roh jumped to his death from a cliff just 200 metres from his home at the age of 62.
    Thousands of mourners visited memorial altars set up in many cities throughout the country and hundreds of them offered flowers and burned incense at a memorial altar in Seoul.
    "Our President Roh Moo-hyun made all of his efforts for our country's democracy. So I will never forget him, I will always remember him," said 51-year-old Jeon Yeon-up.
    Hundreds of Seoul citizens waited in long queues in the rain for their turn to pay respects to Roh.
    "I was very sad last year. Now I am sad again after seeing his photograph. I will always remember him," said 40-year-old Bang Ji-hoon.
    Roh, a former lawyer who was the unexpected winner of the 2002 presidential election, continued many of the policies of his liberal predecessor and Nobel Peace Prize winner Kim Dae-jung, including those aimed at trying to win over hostile North Korea with unconditional aid.
    Roh, who was born in 1946 in a small town in South Korea's southern area, began his career as a human rights lawyer in 1981 after defending anti-government protesters.
    Like his predecessor Kim, Roh held a summit with South Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang.
    By the time he left office, he and many of his policies had become deeply unpopular.
    He was succeeded by the conservative former businessman Lee Myung-bak, who promised to overturn many of the programmes of previous left-leaning governments, including ending a free flow of aid to prickly North Korea.
    Roh reputation became badly tarnished when he was called in by prosecutors to answer questions over his involvement in a corruption scandal.
    Roh admitted that his wife had taken money from a wealthy local businessman while he was in office, and publicly apologised. He said he had not been aware at the time she had taken the money.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2011. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: Audio restrictions: please see Business Notes for more information.
Register