Former South Korean President Is Dead
Roh, Under Investigation in a Financial Scandal, Apparently Jumped Off a Cliff
|
TOOLBOX
   Resize
COMMENT
 Discussion Policy
 CLOSE
Comments that include profanity or personal attacks or other inappropriate comments or material will be removed from the site. Additionally, entries that are unsigned or contain "signatures" by someone other than the actual author will be removed. Finally, we will take steps to block users who violate any of our posting standards, terms of use or privacy policies or any other policies governing this site. Please review the full rules governing commentaries and discussions. You are fully responsible for the content that you post.
Who's Blogging  |
Sunday, May 24, 2009
TOKYO, May 23 -- Former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun, a suspect in a corruption scandal that implicated his wife and family, apparently committed suicide Saturday by leaping from a mountain cliff near his rural home.
Roh, 62, died of massive head injuries while hiking in the early morning with a bodyguard. "He appears to have jumped from a mountain rock," said Moon Jae-in, a lawyer who was Roh's presidential chief of staff.
"The suffering caused by me is too great to too many people," Roh wrote in a note found soon after his death. "The suffering in store for the future is too much to bear. The remainder of my life will only be a burden to others."
Roh, who left office last year after a five-year term, was questioned for nearly 13 hours late last month by prosecutors. They were investigating allegations that during his presidency he and members of his family accepted more than $6 million in bribes from a South Korean shoe manufacturer.
At the time of the questioning, Roh did not admit personal wrongdoing but apologized to the country for his family's involvement in the scandal. Prosecutors are looking into a $1.6 million payment to his wife and a $5 million payment to the husband of one of Roh's nieces.
"I am sorry for disappointing you," Roh told reporters. "I have no face to show to the people."
Shortly after Roh's death, Justice Minister Kim Kyung-han announced that "the ongoing investigation regarding the former president Roh will end."
President Lee Myung-bak described Roh's death as "a sad, tragic incident. . . . It is truly hard to believe what happened."
South Korean news reports said that in the three days before his death, Roh missed meals and spent hours alone in the study of his home in rural Bonghwa, about 270 miles south of Seoul.
He had started smoking again and had seemed agitated that his wife had again been called by prosecutors to come to their office, Roh's aides told news outlets. He was also said to be upset that his son, daughter and son-in-law were facing interrogation.
The 164-foot precipice that Roh apparently jumped from, known as Owl Rock, is less than 200 yards from his home.
While on the Saturday mountain hike, Roh distracted his bodyguard by pointing to people walking below, according to a spokesman in the president's office.
