Bribe scandal former leader jumps off cliff

Published on Saturday 23 May 2009 18:59

SOUTH Korea's former president Roh Moo-hyun has ended his own life in the wake of a corruption scandal which tarnished his "clean" image.

Roh was walking in Bongha village when he threw himself off a steep cliff early yesterday morning. His lawyer revealed that the 62-year-old ex-politician had left a suicide note.

"Too many people are suffering because of me," wrote Roh, who was declared dead from a head injury. "What's left for me for the rest of my life is just to be a burden to others. Don't be saddened too much. Aren't life and death all a fragment of nature? Don't feel sorry. Don't blame anybody. It's destiny."

Roh, a lawyer who lifted himself out of poverty to reach the nation's highest office, prided himself on his clean record in a country with a long history of corruption. He served as president from 2003 to 2008.

But he and his family had recently become caught in a burgeoning bribery scandal.

The suicide – the first by a South Korean leader – stunned the nation. South Koreans huddled around TV screens at Seoul's main train station and elsewhere watching news broadcasts.

"I was utterly shocked," said Chun Soon-im, 63. "They say 'hate the sin but not the sinner', and that's how I feel. The investigation must continue, but I cannot help feeling sorry for the man and those left behind."

Last month, state prosecutors questioned Roh for 13 hours about allegations that he accepted more than $6m in bribes from a South Korean businessman while in office.

"I have no face to show to the people. I am sorry for disappointing you," an emotional Roh said on 30 Aprilbefore speaking to prosecutors.

He denied the allegations against him during questioning, prosecution spokesman Cho Eun-sok said.

Roh had acknowledged that local shoe manufacturer Park Yeon-cha gave his wife $1m, but suggested it was not a bribe. He also said he was aware Park gave $5m to another relative but said he thought it was an investment. Prosecutors suspect the $6m was eventually conveyed to Roh.

Several of Roh's former aides have also been investigated on suspicion of taking money from Park, who was indicted in December on separate bribery and tax evasion charges. Roh's elder brother was sentenced last week to four years in prison in another bribery scandal.

President Lee Myung-bak said Roh's "sad and tragic" death was "truly hard to believe". Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han, expressing "surprise and grief", declared the investigation into Roh closed. Supporters of Roh, who moved back to his hometown of Gimhae after he left office, claimed the probe was politically motivated by conservative opponents.

Roh, thought to be in good health, hinted in the suicide note that stress had taken its toll, saying it was hard for him to even read and write. He asked to be cremated and to have a small gravestone erected near his home.

His death was a tragic end for the son of farmers who never went to college but managed to pass the country's bar exam in 1975 by teaching himself law.

He built his reputation defending students accused of sedition under previous military-backed administrations, and once was arrested and had his law license suspended for supporting an outlawed labour protest.

His political career took off with his election to the National Assembly in 1988. Roh's ascension to the presidency came in a surprise 2002 election win on a campaign pledge not to "kowtow" to the United States, a pledge that resonated with young voters.

He maintained predecessor President Kim Dae-jung's "sunshine policy" of offering North Korea aid as way to facilitate reconciliation, holding a summit in Pyongyang with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in 2007, the second such meeting between leaders of the two countries that technically remain at war.

Yesterday, some supporters flooded his website with condolences. Others accused him of a double betrayal.

"He shocked us twice: first, by betraying our trust in him as the keeper of justice when it was revealed that he'd received the illegitimate money; now, in showing that he was not even responsible enough to face the consequences of his action," said Kim Hye-jung, 35, of Seoul. "As a supporter of the values he stood for, I feel greatly let down."