So in what is becoming a rather odd turn of events, it seems that former South Korean President Roh Moo Hyun, after hiking in the mountains near his home in Gimhae, and asking his lone security officer for a cigarette, flung himself off a 100m cliff at about 6:30 this morning.
After initially being taken to a local hospital he died at Busan University Hospital at about 9:30 this morning of massive head injuries sustained in the fall.
While initially reported as an accident it has since been designated a suicide after aides found this note on his computer:
I am indebted to so many people.
A lot of people have suffered because of me.
I can’t fathom their suffering more in the future.
The rest of my life will only be a burden.
I can’t do anything because of my poor health. I can’t even read or write anything.
Don’t be too sad. Life and death are naturally one.
Don’t be sorry. Don’t hold grudges against anyone. It’s fate. Cremate me and erect a small gravestone near my home. I’ve thought about this for a long time.
(Via Songai at The Marmot’s Hole)
You will of course recall that Roh and members of his family have been subject to an investigation alleging that the former president and members of his family profited to the tune of about $6.4M over the course of his 2003-2008 presidency, and that people were being questioned as recently as this week.
The note sounds very much like someone who has pretty much come to the end of their tether and can’t find a way out, or a way of seeking help. Take into account the following from Roh’s personal website from late last month and you’d think someone might have seen it coming.
I no longer symbolize the values you pursue. I am no longer qualified to speak for such things as democracy, progressiveness and justice
Clearly someone needed help, but I don’t think they have suicide help lines for ex-presidents in Korea. (let alone celebrities.)
One can’t help but think that, despite a huge support staff, security officers, that lovely villiage he lived in in Gimhae and yes even the mountains that surround it, here was a 63 year old man, who having accomplished a lot in life and who, ostensibly without the usual help required (i.e. Chaebol types) ,became president, suddenly found himself alone, disappointed, facing what seemed to be a needlessly vigorous investigation and ultimately without anyone to turn to.
It’s sad.
And as such I will call out the [redacted] ‘s at The Marmot’s Hole, especially Andy Jackson for comments like this:
If (and there are lots of ‘ifs’ right now) Roh’s apparent suicide was done deliberately rather than in a fit of depression, it has achieved at least one goal. The investigation into Roh and his family for bribery has been called off.
What the [redacted] does “If Roh’s apparent suicide was done deliberately rather than a fit of depression” mean!? One rather thinks that suicide is a very deliberate act often occuring during depression. And as one who has suffered long and hard with depression myself (though has never contemplated topping one’s self) you don’t have a “fit” of depression. This is the archaic sort of terminology you would find suggesting lobotomy as a valid treatment for mental illness.
Likewise I hardly think there was any goal in mind when Roh decided to jump from a cliff. I can’t speak from experience but I can’t say he was thinking straight at all at the time.
And as for the investigation being called off, surely this is a rather logical step in that there is no longer any point given you can’t send someone who is dead to jail. Can you?! I would much rather see the Prosecutor Office’s time and money spent chasing after people who can be punished. (And if that includes members of Roh’s surviving family then so be it.)
Christ! Give the man some dignity in death.
Likewise Marmot’s commenters like “seouldout” can [redacted] right off with comments like this:
State funerals shouldn’t be held for crooks. And it ties up traffic.
Asshat!
On the other hand I am in awe of GIKorea who, despite being, arguably, the biggest Anti-Roh voice in K-Blogland, offers a dignified and respectful goodbye to his opponent:
[h]owever, there are attributes one should admire about Roh. He was a political nobody that elected to the President of Korea by true democratic means. He was an outsider that didn’t rely on family or chaebol connections to get himself elected. He had tremendous good will on his side when he was elected and survived impeachment. He was set up to do good things and he squandered it due to his ideology. That is probably the greatest disappointment about Roh. With that all said this is still shocking to see that Roh committed suicide. I offer my condolences to Roh’s family. I’ll have more on this as updates occur.
All that being said I would hate for Roh Moo Hyun to be misappropriated by the Leftist fringe groups that brought us last year’s Mad Cow Madness™. The Korea Times ominously reports:
Some Internet users suggest citizens hold candlelight vigils to honour Roh’s death.
Jeebus H. Christie!
Despite that there seemed to e a measured and reasonable response to Roh’s death elsewhere on the Korean interwebs with this comment reported in the above K-times article
Another netizen also said, “Though I was not a supporter of Roh and disappointed with him because of recent bribery scandal, but I feel really sorry that he chose such an extreme way.”
That leaves me with a little bit of hope that people will be reasonably respectful and dignified towards someone who died in these circumstances.
Which, by the way, doesn’t seem to be the goal over at Roh’s personal website which this afternoon put up funeral porn of the return of Roh in his casket to his home in Gimhae.
Video here.
And finally, my favourite image of Roh, who was seldom seen in public without a huge grin on his face, crossing the boarder between North and South Korea on his visit there late in his presidency.
The trip ultimately proved fruitless and was decried by both his supporters and opponents alike, but I think he thought he was on to something good and something that would make a difference. At least that’s what I see in his eyes (and grin) here.
Which reminds me. I’d take Silly Smily Face over Ol’ Bung Eye any day.
24/05/2009 at 5:39 am Permalink
Thank you for this post. I, too, found some of the things said on other posts to be pretty petty and uncalled for. Your post restores my faith in basic, decent humanity. I was not a fan of Noh the politician. I did not know him as Noh the man. As a politician I thought he was naive, if perhaps well-meaning. But his death can only be called tragic. RIP Mr. Noh.
24/05/2009 at 7:42 am Permalink
Although Roh’s suicide is a tragic event, as all suicides are, I think how one views this event depends a lot on the outcome of the prosecutor’s investigation. If it turns out that the allegations against Roh are true and he did indeed accept bribes while in office, his suicide may quite rightfully be seen as a desperate and selfish attempt to escape the public disgrace of being sent to prison. I find it hard to sympathize with someone like that. One need only ask oneself how history might have viewed Richard Nixon today, if, at the height of the Watergate scandal, he’d done the same thing.
I don’t agree that the investigation was “needlessly vigorous”. Perhaps you can tell me how you see that. Corruption is an enormous problem in this country, and we see it all levels in Korea, from the president taking a bribe right down to the elementary school teacher accepting those ‘envelopes’ from parents. I recall a survey done in Korea a few years back in which an overwhelming majority of respondents said that in their lifetime they fully expected to either give or receive a bribe at least once. It’s a mindset that needs to change here. That’s never going to happen if prosecutors deal leniently with corrupt public officials.
Allegations of bribery against an ex-president who prided himself on his integrity ought to be taken seriously and vigorously pursued, both the for the sake of punishing the offense and for the good of the nation. Koreans deserve an honest government and, should the allegations against Roh be well founded, they will have been once again disappointed in this regard by yet another of their leaders. My hope is that Roh’s suicide, being such a public and tragic event, will serve to better focus people on considering solutions to that problem.
24/05/2009 at 8:58 am Permalink
Maybe corruption is an underlying problem in Korean society. But that’s why the media coverage on him were so hypocritical and unfair. Why wasn’t there such scrutiny against MB concerning the BBK scandal? Where was the (conservative) media’s attention there?
24/05/2009 at 8:58 am Permalink
Daniel: I think it’s pretty well-known (just look at coverage of the beef protests in different papers: Chosun, Joongang and Dong-a vs. Hangyoreh, for example) that the Korean media is hopelessly partisan when it comes to politics. There were lots of people crying for blood over BBK… in the Hangyoreh.
If Roh’s death leads to an honest public discussion, and some sincere social self-reflection both about public corruption and attitudes toward suicide and depression, that will be good. However, I’d like to start those discussions a few days from now, after spending a few days just being bummed that these kinds of things happen, for the sake of Roh the human, before we begin considering Roh the symbol, and the larger picture of what this tragedy “means”.
just my personal two bits.
i’m pretty upset by some of the comments being made about roh on some of the other webpages. too soon.
24/05/2009 at 9:31 am Permalink
Some bloggers in Korea are prone to satire, so when I first saw the headline in my reader I thought somebody was making a sick joke based on Roh’s situation and the high suicide rate in Korea.
I was wondering along Cheongyechon last night but was stopped by a line of police as I got to that cone. There was a line of buses and I figured some anti-beef stuff was staring up again. It was quite a surprise when I checked the computer this morning.
I’m pretty busy at the moment, as is Rob I’ll bet, and will have to take some time tonight to read through all of this information. It will be a very interesting time, that’s for sure, and you can bet they’re going to hit back at LMB when it’s his turn to be an ex-president.
On the other blogs . . . to be honest, they’re routinely tasteless, and I said long ago that I don’t read anything on TMHole not posted by Robert himself. Why do people let their sites become amateur hour and a platform for the lowest of lowlifes here?
24/05/2009 at 10:29 am Permalink
I was also sickened by the response of some bloggers (and their readership) yesterday when the story broke. Reading posts such as “good riddance” left me more than a little offended. Thanks guys for keeping it a little more somber and respectful here at the Hub.
24/05/2009 at 10:44 am Permalink
“Maybe corruption is an underlying problem in Korean society. But that’s why the media coverage on him were so hypocritical and unfair. Why wasn’t there such scrutiny against MB concerning the BBK scandal? Where was the (conservative) media’s attention there?”
At the risk of sidetracking this discussion, there was plenty of media attention in all Korean newspapers and media outlets concerning the BBK scandal. LMB was the subject of a full prosecutorial investigation into the BBK affair. An independent counsel (appointed, I might add, by Mr. Roh ) subsequently reinvestigated the matter. LMB cooperated in both of those investigations and patiently awaited the results. On both occasions he was cleared of any wrongdoing. All of this was widely reported in the press. What more do you want? All of which makes me wonder. Why didn’t Mr. Roh do the same?
24/05/2009 at 11:35 am Permalink
howie2424,
Check their respective official crime records. Lee had an unequal advantage in the matter, so to speak. The fact that Lee was the absolute fav for the presidential election didn’t hurt, either.
24/05/2009 at 12:40 pm Permalink
Well, I can’t speak for Andy, but allow me to explain what the [redacted] that means. It means Roh’s wife and kids were in serious [redacted] trouble, and he might very well have sacrificed himself to save his family. You might not understand how someone might do this, but surely you can see how that might be the case, no? That what I think happened, although public figures committing suicide out of shame over public embarrassment is not unheard of, either — see Nam Sang-guk, the late governor of Jeollanam-do and the late Buan mayor, who committed suicide under Roh’s watch as they were being investigated.
Poorly timed, perhaps. but then again, compared to the Democratic Party, it was the paragon of civility:
Me thinks your outrage, Stafford, is a bit misplaced.
See above — Roh’s body wasn’t even cold yet when the opposition starting politicizing his death. But I guess we’ll just have to watch and see.
Brian — You know, I’m getting a bit sick out you taking pot shots at my guest bloggers. I’m sure Andy, Sonagi, etc. would appreciate knowing they are the “the lowest of lowlifes.”
24/05/2009 at 8:38 pm Permalink
He definitely came from nothing and was a good man. After people have a chance to mourn I have a rather sour two cents to add about the nature of his death but in the mean time I wish his supporters and family well. He is defiantly the least deserving of Korean ex-presidents to meet such a demise.
24/05/2009 at 9:23 pm Permalink
I certainly agree with that:
“He is defiantly the least deserving of Korean ex-presidents to meet such a demise.”
It just shows the frailty of somepeople whom we think are strong. We should be careful how much we “push” people for they might just do the unexpected.
He didn’t need to end this way. From rags to riches to tragedy. Sad in all respects….
24/05/2009 at 10:02 pm Permalink
Robert – I can see how this has come about, and it certainly isn’t the first time as you rightly point out. My point rather is that Andy’s post was not entirely balanced and the “and there are lots of ‘ifs’ right now” line seemed very unnecessary and in very poor taste.
Had there been a bit more balance (or at least the pretence thereof) I wouldn’t have such a problem.
Balance is exactly what I am trying to portray when I mention the loony left, who, in misappropriating the circumstances of Roh’s death, equally deserve my rage and are equally a bunch of asshats!
The right leaning (English speaking) K-Blogland has taken the piss out of Roh (and many times rightly so) over the last 8 years (1 before, 5 during and 2 after his presidency). As someone who was brought up being told we don’t speak ill of the dead (Much like Korea you see) I would think this to be the time to offer some honourable comment to a fallen opponent (cf. RoK Drop) and (knowing the Right wing) move on to your next target.
24/05/2009 at 11:07 pm Permalink
Robert, The lowest of lowlifes comments wasn’t about Andy or Sonagi, though my line was ambiguous. The tasteless comments were from the commentors beneath the posts. Sorry for the confusion; I enjoy Sonagi’s work.
25/05/2009 at 8:29 pm Permalink
@ Robert Koehler
Well, to be fair, you have to admit that Andy Jackson pretty much is the definition of “the lowest of lowlifes.”
I always thought that’s why you had him as a guest blogger. Why else would anyone willingly give him blog space?
25/05/2009 at 9:49 pm Permalink
Hi, This Is Me Posting. Be nice please.
25/05/2009 at 10:50 pm Permalink
No prob, Rob.
I always try to be affable and I assure you that I was only stating facts in the nicest way possible.
27/05/2009 at 9:49 am Permalink
I gotta say, that was the final straw in my leaving MH forever. Some people there are just twisted, and I really don’t want to deal with that anymore. I’ll be in my little corner if anyone needs me.