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Death fails to kill Roh's popularity
(China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-25 07:17 BONGHA, South Korea: Tens of thousands of people streamed to a village to pay respects to former president Roh Moo-hyun Sunday, a day after he committed suicide to end his "suffering over corruption allegations".
At a makeshift memorial outside the 16th-century Deoksu Palace in central Seoul, mourners waited several hours in long queues to place white flowers, burn incense sticks and bow before portraits of the 62-year-old former leader, showing how popular he still is. A public funeral will be held for Roh after a weeklong mourning period, Yonhap news agency said. Roh relied on pluck and hard work to rise from his impoverished youth in rural Gimhae to become the country's leader in 2003. He left behind a note describing his suffering over corruption allegations and asking to be cremated. His suicide, just 15 months after he left office, follows his intense questioning by officials over $6 million. The money was allegedly given to his family during his presidency by the head of shoe manufacturer Taekwang Industry, Park Eon-cha. Park has been implicated in a number of bribery scams.
Although Roh denied his involvement in the scandal, claiming he learned of it only after retiring, he became the third former South Korean president to be questioned by prosecutors for alleged corruption. The allegations weighed heavily on a man who prided himself on his "clean" record in a country struggling to shake a tradition of corruption. Prosecutors had grilled Roh, his wife and children since last month. China mourns death China yesterday mourned the death of Roh. "The Chinese government and its people will never forget Roh's efforts and significant contribution to the improvement of relationship between China and South Korea," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ma Zhaoxu said. Chinese experts said Roh's suicide could help South Korea's democratic process. That he gave his life for the country's democratic transition should be a lesson for succeeding presidents and other politicians, said Zhu Feng, an expert on East Asia studies. The Peking University professor told Sina.com, a leading online portal, that though Roh had been accused of corruption, he was "much better" than the two other former presidents who faced similar charges. Former South Korean dictator Chun Doo-hwan, accused of embezzling millions of dollars during his rule, spent two years in a Buddhist temple before being sentenced to life along with Roh Tae-woo, his handpicked successor, in 1996. In contrast, Roh Moo-hyun, president from 2003 to 2008 and elected on an anti-corruption platform, was "very cautious of his place and role in South Korean politics", Zhu said. To a certain extent, Roh's death "reflects the success of Korea's democratic transition". Sino-South Korean ties "improved significantly" during Roh's tenure, with bilateral trade and personnel exchange reaching record levels, said Zhang Liangui, a specialist on South Korea with the Central Party School of the Communist Party of China. Supporters of the former liberal leader have accused his conservative opponent and current president, Lee Myung-bak, of driving him to death with the aggressive investigation. Lee, on his part, has mourned Roh's death and sent a condolence message to his family. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, said he was "shocked and deeply saddened." In a statement issued yesterday, he said: "I pay tribute to the late president Roh, who exerted tireless efforts to promote democracy, undertake various reform measures and paved the way for building an advanced society in (South) Korea." |
