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노무현
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盧武鉉
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No Muhyeon
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No Mu-hyŏn
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(born
September 1 ,
1946 ) has been the
President of
South Korea since
February 25 ,
2003 . Before entering politics, Roh was a noted
Human Rights Lawyer .
With First Lady Kwon Yangsook (권양숙), Roh has a daughter (Roh Jeong-yeon, 노정연, born 1975), an embassy worker; and a son (Roh Geon-ho, 노건호, born 1973), an electronics conglomerate employee. Roh is a
Roman Catholic , like his predecessor,
Kim Dae-Jung .
Roh was born in 1946 to a poor 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 first autocrat. 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
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." 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
Chun Doo-hwan .
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 disguise." 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 land slide victory, eventually winning the presidency on
December 19 ,
2002 , defeating
Lee Hoi-chang of the
Grand National Party by a very narrow margin.
His victory was a dramatic surprise, made possible by a last-minute betrayal by a political ally that backfired. Some supporters for the leading competitor, Lee Hoi-chang , insisted that he was elected through a rigged election. However, the Korean Supreme Court rejected their argument.
Roh entered office with an ambitious agenda—establishing Korea as the hub of northeast
Asia , continuing the engagement policy or
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 controversy that has plagued Roh’s government, leading to intense criticism both from his supporters, who feel he has not 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.
during a
White House visit in May 2003]]
On
March 12 ,
2004 he was
Impeached by the
National Assembly , and
Prime Minister Goh Kun replaced him as acting president. The impeachment was overturned by the country's Constitutional Court on
May 14 ,
2004 and Roh's powers were immediately restored.
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. 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, with those wanting more autonomy from the US tending to be younger (who are also antagonized by incidents involving US troops stationed in Korea), while those more supportive of the US military presence tending to be older, and viewing North Koreans as enemies. Controversy within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade led to the replacement of the minister, 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.
Prime Minister Goh Kun ran the country until the Constitutional Court overturned the impeachment decision on
May 14 ,
2004 , restoring Roh as President.
The results of the
April 2004 Parliamentary Election showed public support for him, with the Uri Party winning a majority of seats. Roh's popularity, which was hovering around the 30% mark due to social unrest and disclosure of illegal fund-raising in the 2002 Presidential election, creation of new party and often-made improper remarks, went up dramatically to 50% soon after the assembly's vote to impeach Roh. This trend continued after he was restored to power.
However, after he came back to the political arena, many incidents happened that severely hurt the President. After Roh 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 Hai-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 made people angry at Roh, especially when he and his party repeatedly stated that economy was in good shape while people were having hard time finding work. The national pension fund crisis also hurt living standards and such events made Roh again very unpopular; 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 was not 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 is 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 as
Dong-a Ilbo and
Chosun Ilbo , which are major conservative news media of the nation, and he has 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 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 the both parties in terms of political agenda was actually minute. Roh promised he would yield much of his power and might even resign from office if grand coalition is 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 Uri Party's supporters who confess as liberals were enraged at Roh holding his party was not really different from the conservative opposition. The Grand National Party, enjoying relatively strong approval rate but still bent on revenge on the party's defeat in major elections, repeatedly declined to initiate a negotiation for the coalition. And yet 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 district. Roh's plan was scrapped, having failed to garner support from either political faction. However, Roh announced another proposal is on the way, scheduled to be issued in early
2006 , to resolve "national problems" which includes plans for "his course."
President Roh requested apology from Japan for
Korea Under Japanese Rule by speech on March 1 and compensation for
Comfort Women , or Korean women forced into sexual slavery, in March 1, 2005.
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Japan apologized but refused to compensate in what it saw as conforming to
Treaty On Basic Relations Between Japan And The Republic Of Korea . President Roh requested again the apology from Japan for
Korea Under Japanese Rule and compensation for
Comfort Women s on March 25, 2005, when he delivered his speech.
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- Official English page of Roh Moo-hyun
- The Uri Party (in Korean)
- Nosamo: Roh Moo-hyun's fan club (in Korean)
- "Roh Defiant on Korea-US Tension" , The Chosun Ilbo, January 25, 2006.
- "Profile: Roh Moo-hyun" , BBC News, May 14, 2004.
- "The Roh Impeachment: An American Perspective" , The Jeju Times, February 2003.
- "President Roh Moo-hyun and the New Politics of South Korea" , The Asia Society, February 2003.
- "Roh Moo-hyun, South's Man of the People" , The Age, February 26, 2003.
- "Profile: President-elect Roh Moo-hyun" , CNN, December 31, 2002.
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