The New York TimesPublished: May 24, 2009
By CHOE SANG-HUN
Thousands of South Koreans flocked to central Seoul on Sunday to pay their respects to former President Roh Moo-hyun, who had committed suicde Saturday.
Former president Roh Moo-hyun was recognized as a clean politician while in office(2003 ~ 2008) and was highly respected as a leader to end the recent decades' tarnished history of South Korean presidents having been charged of corropution for receiving grafts from conglomerates.
After the retirement, Mr. Roh faced corruption charges for receiving $6 million from a businessman. The amount is minor compared with those that have been received by some of his predecessors, who had collected massive sums from the nation's top conglomerates. However, prosecutors aggressively hounded Mr. Roh and leaked details of their investigations to the media without any solid evidence although Mr. Roh denied receiving money. As well, the preosecutors went after Mr. Roh's family members; Mr. Roh's wife, Kwon Yang-sook, had been summoned for questioning for a second time on the day he committed suicide. He left a suicide note which was his last comment on his bribery scandal that tarnished his legacy as an upstanding political leader, "Life and death are all parts of nature. Don't be sorry. Don't blame anyone. Accept it as fate."
His suicide aroused political divide. This division is considered serious as it came in the time when President Lee Myung-bak has been criticized for the authoritive government that is Many people accused prosecutors of taking orders from whoever is in power. People believed that Mr. Roh was the victim of political vendetta from his successor President Lee Myung-bak as there has been a long His supporters trampled President Lee Myung-bak's. Moon Chung-in, a political student at Yonsei University in Seoul and former adviser to Mr. Roh, said, "the prosecutors have become the most omnipotent force in Korean society today. Their strength is a legacy of dictatorship that still affects us."
Meanwhile, on Sunday, the government and Mr. Roh's family decided to hold a state "people's funeral" Friday.
Opinion: I am saddened that former President committed suicide. As a citizen of Korea, I pay my respect to him. However, I think I have to be rational in choosing my mind between two ideas that are currently dominant in Korea. According to my parents and my friends in Korea, his suicide has brought the nation into chaos. Many people believe that former president Roh is a victim of political vendetta and is innocent. On the other hand, although it can be seen rude to the dead, others believe that people are just being irational because of his death and somehow ignored the fact that he is a guilty man. Many also believe that the prosecutor is a highly controlled organization of Blue House and the press was also controlled to disclose all the flaws of Mr. Roh during the investigations, putting him to a life-and-death situation. To be honest, I have been really oblivious of how politics are going in my own country. But through this event I read alot of related articles and learned the dark truths about Korea's politics such as conspiracy, controlled press, effects of past dictatorship in Korea society, etc. I felt really embarrassed and confused. I didn't like how Korean people lose rationals easily and become one-sided. The lack of rationals appears in people protesting for impeachment of current President Lee Myung-bak without any evidence of President controlling the prosecutors and the press. Although they may be right, they have to take a series of investigations before they take a side. What I am really disappointed at this Korean society is how there seems to be no truthful source where I can get balanced opinion, or I might have just lost trust in them. Although former President Roh was guilty of receiving bribe, I believe he significantly contributed to remove corruption in society. Therefore, although he is gone now, I wish I could be the one who can establish a society free of dishonesty.
I remember Roh Moo-hyun was the president of the South Korea when I was young. My memories told me that he did a great job, but it is sad that he commited suicide after being accused. I believe a lot of his followers will be sad right now. Rest in Peace.
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