Everything about Roh Moo-hyun totally explained
Roh Moo-hyun (born in
August 6,
1946 in
Kimhae,
Gyeongsangnam-do, South Korea) is a former
President of
South Korea. He held the position from
February 25,
2003 to
February 25,
2008. Before entering politics, Roh was a
human rights lawyer.
His political career was marked by attempts to protect human rights and promote democracy in South Korea, he wanted to make sure everyone felt free and fair. He also wanted to overcome regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his election to the presidency. The emergence of a liberal reformist political movement in the country was another factor in his victory. According to the Guardian post of the UK, the development of the internet across the entire country played a huge role in his victory.
Roh's opponents staged a failed
impeachment attempt in 2004. He was reinstated with a stronger mandate than he'd when he entered office, although his popularity has steadily dropped thereafter. But, he wounded up his service with about 30% popularity in February 2008, and it was probably the highest popularity of the end of term among the Presidents of many generations in ROK.
Personal background
Roh was born in 1946 to a farming family in
Gimhae, near
Busan, in
southeastern South Korea. In 1960, he led a protest at his school against mandatory essays extolling his country's then-President
Syngman Rhee. A high school graduate who never went to college, he worked at odd jobs after serving in the
Korean army.
He studied on his own to pass the
bar exam in 1975. In 1977, he became regional judge in
Daejeon, and began privately practising in
tax law in 1978. In 1981, he defended students who had been tortured for possession of
contraband literature. In early 2003, he was quoted as saying, "When I saw their horrified eyes and their missing toenails, my comfortable life as a lawyer came to an end. I became a man that wanted to make a difference in the world." He opposed the
autocracy in place at the time in South Korea, and participated in the pro-democracy
June Struggle in 1987 against the
authoritarian president.
Early political career
In 1988, Roh entered politics and grilled the government over
corruption allegations and the 1980
Gwangju Massacre. In the same year, he was elected to the
National Assembly of South Korea, representing the
Unification Democratic Party (통일민주당- Tongilminjudang). Shortly thereafter, he gained popularity in the first nationally broadcast parliament hearing.
Roh's defeat in the April 2000 election in
Busan was a "blessing in defeat." The news of his defeat prompted his supporters nationwide to form
Nosamo, the first political fan club in Korea.
His supporters were inspired by the courage and commitment shown in his struggle against
regionalism.
Roh was appointed as the Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries in August 2000. He was elected the presidential candidate of the ruling
Millennium Democratic Party in a
landslide victory, eventually winning the presidency on
December 19,
2002, defeating
Lee Hoi-chang of the
Grand National Party by a narrow margin. His victory was a dramatic surprise, made possible by a last-minute widthdrawal from his coalition partner
Chung Mong-joon as well as the effect of widespread anti-American sentiment in South Korea. The important factors of his victory, however, were voter's hating corruption of the Establishment and longing for reform. Young generation, especially, who used Internet and cell phone played a vital role in his victory.
Presidency
The first year
Roh entered office with an ambitious agenda—establishing Korea as the hub of
northeast Asia, continuing the engagement policy or controversial
Sunshine Policy towards
North Korea started by his predecessor
Kim Dae-Jung.
, redefining the security relationship with the
United States, reform of contentious
politics through compromise, decentralization of
government, continuing pressure on
chaebol and enhancing
corporate transparency, reforming
education and
tax systems, improvement of
labor-
management relations. This ambitious program has stalled due to continuing scandals that has plagued Roh’s government, leading to intense criticism both from his supporters, who feel he hasn't held to his principles, and from those who have opposed his policies from the outset. His administration has been touched by allegations of corruption serious enough for him to propose a
referendum on his performance. That proposal having
constitutional problems, Roh then offered to step down from office if an investigation showed that his
campaign team had illicitly collected as much as one-tenth of the $42 million found to have been illegally raised by the campaign for the opposition
Grand National Party. The investigation suggested a figure close to one-eighth, but Roh refused to back down, disputing that figure as a matter of subjective calculation by a hostile media.
Uri Party and impeachment
Roh and his supporters left the Millennium Democratic Party in 2003 and a new party, the
Uri Party (열린우리당, lit. "Our Open Party") was formed.
Roh's popularity was declining at that period: his conciliatory North Korea policy is controversial with his opponents, and his decision to send troops to
Iraq was controversial with his supporters. The country has become polarized over the United States military presence in South Korea. Disassociation from the U.S. military is largely supported by young South Koreans critical of the lack of autonomy signified by the presence of U.S. troops stationed in Korea. Conversely, those supportive of the US military presence tend to be older citizens who perceive North Koreans as enemies. Controversy within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade led to the replacement of the president, and a contentious free trade treaty with
Chile brought farmers to the streets.
On
March 12,
2004, the South Korean National Assembly voted to
impeach Roh Moo-hyun for illegal electioneering and incompetence charges. The vote was 193-2, with Roh's supporters abstaining from the vote. Pro-Roh Uri Party members had blocked the speaker's podium for 3 days to prevent a vote before being hauled out by opposition lawmakers and security guards. Roh's executive power was suspended until final decision is made by the Constitutional Court, and
Prime Minister Goh Kun ran the country as the Acting President.
The National Assembly's attempt to impeach Roh met with strong opposition by the people. Although Roh's popularity hovered around the 30% mark due to social unrest, disclosure of illegal fund-raising in the 2002 Presidential election, creation of a new party, and often-made improper remarks, many Koreans thought the impeachment was too harsh and heavy-handed, and Roh's popularity went up dramatically to 50% soon after the assembly's vote to impeach Roh. The results of the
April 2004 parliamentary election showed public support for him, with the Uri Party winning a majority of seats.
On
May 14,
2004, the Constitutional Court overturned the impeachment decision, restoring Roh as President, and Roh enjoyed increased support for some while after he was restored to power.
After the reinstatement
However, after Roh's return to the political arena, many incidents happened that severely hurt the President. After the Uri Party's campaign promise to make all construction companies open the prime cost of constructing apartment buildings to the public—a very popular campaign promise—was broken, the people's trust in Roh and his party slipped. There was also public distress about the President's willingness to nominate
Kim Hyuk-kyu, who defected to the opposition Grand National Party just three months before the general election as new prime minister.
Lee Hae Chan was instead nominated and confirmed as the new Prime Minister. Also the cabinet shake-up was unpopular because the people saw no reason to make the shake-up. There was talk that the shake-up was made for the future likely Uri Party presidential nominee in 2007 and this fact angered people.
Also, worsening economic conditions turned people against the president, especially when he and his party repeatedly stated that the South Korean economy was in good condition even as people struggled to find employment. The national pension fund crisis also hurt living standards. Such events hurt Roh's popularity; his ratings at the polls stood in the lower 30%s.
His plan to deploy ground forces in
Iraq also made him very unpopular, particularly among left-wing forces who were the main supporters of Roh. Their call to end the deployment plan continued throughout Roh's term and became even louder after a South Korean named
Kim Sun-il was kidnapped in Iraq by a terrorist group and was beheaded. Roh's government wasn't only criticized for not halting the deployment plan for Kim's sake, but also further condemned by the public when it was disclosed that an
Associated Press reporter asked whether there were kidnapped Korean personnel in Iraq long before
Al Jazeera showed video of Kim kidnapped. The government stated that they first learned of the incident when Al Jazeera showed the tape, but it's alleged that they knew it much earlier but sealed the incident to the public to make the public support the deployment plan. Roh's popularity dropped to the 20% level after this incident.
He was also criticized for pushing ahead the capital relocation plan from
Seoul to the
Chungcheong region, without giving attention to much public distress and criticism of the plan. He has repeatedly said that the criticism on the plan is being formed by major newspapers such as
Chosun Ilbo,
JoongAng Ilbo and
Dong-a Ilbo (as in the order that Korean people put in acronym, 조중동), which are major conservative news media of the nation, and he's attacked those newspapers many times in public. On
October 21,
2004, the Constitutional Court, the same institution that saved Roh from the impeachment, ruled that the special law for the relocation of the capital is unconstitutional, thus inflicting a huge blow to Roh's policy. Roh's plan was mended, with the word "capital" replaced with "administrative central", and legislated afterwards, this time gaining an approval from the Constitutional Court on
November 24,
2005.
'The grand coalition'
The ruling Uri Party had lost in every by-election under Roh's leadership, and there was no exception in the by-elections held on
April 30,
2005, when the party was defeated in every of the 23 electoral districts. Facing the outcome of his unpopularity, Roh took a rather strange measure to save his presidency when he proposed a
grand coalition with the opposition Grand National Party. Roh's rationale was that since it was impossible to continue his presidency with an approval rate of around 20 percent, a grand coalition comprising the Uri Party and the Grand National Party was desirable, and that the difference between both parties in terms of political agendas was actually minute. Roh promised he'd yield much of his power and might even resign from office if a grand coalition was successfully launched.
Roh's proposal for the grand coalition stirred yet another national controversy. Many called his plan "reckless and completely ignorant" of the sentiments of people still ailing from repeated political controversies and economic hardships. Many of the Uri Party's supporters who identify as liberals were enraged at Roh holding that his party wasn't really different from the conservative opposition. The Grand National Party, enjoying relatively strong approval rate but still bent on revenge for the party's defeat in major elections, repeatedly declined to initiate a negotiation for the coalition. While the Uri Party grudgingly supported the President's proposal, a lawmaker defected from the party in protest of Roh's plan, and the loss of popularity was felt when the party suffered another complete defeat in the by-election on
October 26,
2005, this time including one of the party's stronghold electoral districts. Roh's plan was scrapped, having failed to garner support from either political faction. However, Roh has announced that another proposal is on the way, scheduled to be issued in early 2006, to resolve national problems which includes plans for his course.
Libel lawsuit
On
September 6,
2007, the
South Korea presidential office announced that it would file forthwith a
libel case against conservative opposition
Grand National Party (GNP) (frontrunner in December's
election),
Lee Myung-bak. Lee enjoys 50% support in
opinion polls against 10% for the leading candidate of the pro-government
United New Democratic Party (UNDP) Roh Moo-Hyun. Moon Jae-In, chief presidential secretary, stated that the criminal case will be filed to preserve trust in the
government.
Trade Policy
Rho Moo-hyun initiated numerous free trade agreement negotiations, including
U.S.-Korea Free Trade Agreement which was the most controversial.
Kim Hyun-jong, who was the deputy minister for trade and later the minister for trade for 4 years in Roh administration and therefore who had led most of Roh administration's FTAs, took aggressive and speedy steps toward free trade, getting himself fierce accusations from opponents and strong praises from supporters.
Foreign relations
United States
Roh was perceived as an
anti-American before the presidential race, which wasn't a handicap during the campaign. Public antipathy with the United States was prevalent in 2002, which was evoked by what was perceived by the South Korean public to be an inadequate response from the
U.S. Army in a maneuver accident that resulted in the deaths of two Korean junior high school students, and President
Bush's hard-line policy towards
North Korea. Roh once remarked
"is going anti-American a big deal?" before he won the presidency, which worked in Roh's favor and led many to believe he'd lead an
independent line in terms of relation with the U.S.
Roh's remark, however, has become a liability after he started out as the President. Conservatives in Korea and the U.S. regarded Roh with suspicion, and opposition
Grand National Party routinely criticized Roh as a left-winger. Roh clumsily attempted to make up for this negative image, when he made his first visit to the U.S. and said he'd have been in a (communist)
concentration camp had there not been support from the United States. Roh's comment was ill-received by many Koreans, who felt the comment was too self-deprecating and insulting to national pride. Roh's revelation was all the more alarming because his obedient attitude seemed to be in discord with a comment he'd made during the presidential campaign stating that he wouldn't visit the United States only to do some
photo-ops.
Many of the Koreans that supported Roh felt betrayed when Roh decided to deploy troops to
Iraq in support of the U.S.-led military campaign. Although Roh excused the deployment as only a peacekeeping mission and claimed that such commitment was required to bring favor from the U.S. in resolving the
North Korean nuclear crisis, opponents criticized Roh of being a puppet driven by the United States.
The relationship with the U.S. has been made more complicated during the ongoing negotiations with North Korea over its nuclear program. South Korea's dovish line didn't stand well with the hawkish policies of United States, and the U.S. repeatedly opposed South Korea's economic aid to the North, saying economic aid only strengthens North Korea's intransigence and hurts the combined effort for negotiation.
On February 3rd of 2006, South Korea announced it'll initiate negotiations with the U.S. for a
free trade agreement. Many, including Roh's former economic advisor, expressed concern that the government is acting too hastily, and the effect of the agreement would be detrimental to certain sectors of the nation's economy (such as agriculture). Despite such opposition, Roh repeatedly supported the idea, saying that he's got a good feeling about it.
In April 2007, Roh presided over an emergency meeting of his aides to discuss the diplomatic fallout from the
massacre at Virginia Polytechnic Institute in the United States by a South Korean student,
Cho Seung-hui, fearing its negative impact on South Korea-U.S. relations.
(External Link
) They are discussing comprehensive measures to cope with the unprecedented incident, including issuance of presidential messages of apology. Roh issued two messages of condolence already on April 17, 2007, of which many Koreans felt was unnecessary and abnormal for a President that had brought US and South Korean relations to their lowest point in the history of the US-ROK alliance. There were no reports of Americans linking the behavior of Cho Seung-hui to Korean-Americans as a whole.
Japan
See also: Korean-Japanese disputes
South Korea's relationship with Japan was in a healthy condition when Roh entered office. However, his first visit to the neighboring country in 2003,
Japanese emperor was scheduled on a date that coincided with
Korean Memorial Day.
During the visit, Roh proclaimed he wouldn't seek any more apologies from Japan over its
colonial occupation, in the hope of further friendly relationship between the two countries. Although Roh's proclamation was made in good faith, some expressed concern that Japan may interpret this as the termination of its responsibility for the
colonial past, and use it as an excuse to deny any claims for compensation that may arise in the future.
Despite Roh's hope, relations with Japan deteriorated henceforth, in several areas of conflict such as compensation issues for
comfort women, denial of colonial past in
Japanese history textbooks, and dispute over
Liancourt Rocks (Dokdo/Takeshima). Another sensitive issue, former
Prime Minister Koizumi's repeated visit to
Yasukuni Shrine was harshly criticized in South Korea, and Roh declared no further meetings with Koizumi would take place unless the he stopped visiting the shrine.
Although bad terms with very important trading and tourism partner Japan were not in Korea's national interest, Roh himself benefited from the disputes. His approval rating saw a momentary surge with every breakout of the disputes, and he took advantage of the situation with a number of nationally televised speech dealing with the issues.
In an address to the nation on April 25, 2006 on the disputes over Liancourt Rocks, Roh reaffirmed that he doesn't seek another apology from Japan, but demanded Japan's action in compliance with past apologies. The speech was applauded by many Koreans despite Roh's low popularity. The then-
Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi characterized the speech as for domestic audiences.
Retirement
After leaving office, Roh retired to
Bongha, the village of his birth. In doing so, he marked a break with the practice of earlier presidents of living out their retirement in heavily guarded seclusion in Seoul. As of April 2008, Bongha – a hamlet of 121 people – was a major tourist attraction thanks to Roh's presence, with up to 20,000 visitors per day crowding around his house or following him around.
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