|
|
| |
The Story of Mr. Roh, Moo-Hyun
Standing Advisor to the Millennium Democratic Party
September, 2001
Mr. Roh, Congressional hearing star
During the National Assembly's hearing on the corrupt activities of former President Chun Doo-Hwan's military regime in 1988, a novice lawmaker stood in the spotlight. It was then that Roh Moo-Hyun of Pusan first caught the nation's attention. He was steadfast and determined against those who were allegedly involved in corruption and refused to cooperate with the investigations by responding only, "I cannot remember" or "I don't know," when being questioned. Roh astutely pointed out the inconsistencies in their testimonies. Through his resolute will to search for truth and pursue logical inquiry, he became a prominent statesman, a man in which Korean citizens were taking more and more notice.
A self-made man
Roh, a successful lawyer, only graduated from a vocational high school, unlike most other Korean lawyers who graduated from prestigious universities or obtained their degrees from foreign schools. Aside from his activity during the hearing, Roh continued to gain the public's attention with his dramatic life.
His political opponents claimed that his rise in political popularity during the hearing was due to his articulate and narrative skills. In actuality, his true value stemmed from his political activities.
Roh was born as the youngest son of a family from Jinyoung, a small town in Kyeongsang Province. Following the typical path of bright but poor students of those times, he went to a vocational school and got a job after graduation. But he was disappointed with his meager salary, which was below minimum wage, so he decided to challenge himself and took the national bar exam, an exam only the elites of Korea were known to be able to successfully tackle. Despite his minimal formal education, he passed the bar exam in 1975.
A lawyer of principle
After establishing a career as a judge, he opened his own law firm. He was a successful lawyer and demonstrated a special talent for tax law, gaining more prominence in the legal circles of Pusan. He could have easily accumulated personal wealth and secured a comfortable life. However, he could not turn a blind eye to the brutality of the military regime that reigned over the country.
Boolim Incident, turning point for Roh
The 1981 "Boolim Incident" inspired his human rights law career. In that year two-dozen students were apprehended, without arrest warrant, for the possession of banned ideological literature by the then draconian dictatorial government authorities and tortured for almost two months [57 days]. Mr. Roh, took the case at personal risk and, having seen one of the students toe nails torn off as the result of torture, was shocked into the life-changing decision of henceforth acting on behalf of the disenfranchised and underprivileged.
A leader in the Democratic Movement
He saw the reality of the injustices that bright students were facing if they dared to protest against the military regime. They were being unjustly arrested and tortured. Rather than ignoring the dire situation his country faced, Roh opted to fight for social justice and exposed himself to a life filled with suffering and difficult times due to his deep involvement with the democratic movement. During the movement, he suffered from the military regime's oppression and was stripped of his license to practice law. As Chairman of the Association of Democratic Citizens of Pusan, he played a major role in that city's democratic movement. He was one of the pivotal leaders that ignited the great democratic movement for constitutional amendment in June 1987.
After the movement, he decided to run for the National Assembly, seeking a legitimate means of power to continue his fight for democracy. He joined the Unified Democratic Party led by Kim Young-Sam, the leader of the opposition party based in the Southeastern part of Korea, who later became President. Roh ran against a member of the military elite in the ruling party and won the election in 1988.
Becoming a National Assemblyman
The National Assembly served as Roh's stage for demonstrating his true talents. He made his mark through his parliamentary activities, playing a major role in not only the hearings of the former military regime's crimes, but also in the labor committee of the National Assembly.
But what lay ahead was a very challenging period in Roh's life, the intensified regional conflict between the eastern and western part of Korea. The regional conflict took center stage in the political arena, overshadowing the activities of the military regime's dictatorship. In 1990 Kim Young-Sam, President of Unified Democratic Party, and Kim Jong-Pil, President of New Democratic Republic Party based in Chung-Cheong Province, announced a merger of their two parties with the ruling Democratic Justice Party. The so-called "Three Party Merger" was the start of many trials and tribulations for Roh, who adamantly denounced the merger as political collusion.
He refused to follow his party leader and did not join the Three Party Merger. Together with other lawmakers who refused to join the newly founded Party, he strived to build a unified opposition party and succeeded.
A politician for regional integration with faith and principle
He again ran in the general election of 1992 in the city of Pusan. However, Pusan was still very much the political stronghold of Kim Young-Sam. It was impossible for Roh, a candidate of the new opposition party based in Cholla Province, to win in Pusan. Although Roh could have easily run for office in the Seoul Metropolitan area and secured political office, he was determined to confront the issues of regional antagonism by attempting to reform the political atmosphere of that area. Despite his loss in that election, he persisted and ran for political offices in the district of Pusan as a means of trying to combat regional strife and discord.
After President Kim Dae-Jung came into office, he asked Roh to run as a candidate in a Seoul by-election. Roh won the by-election but in the following general election he ran again in Pusan and lost. Even though he lost by a narrow margin, he built a solid political base through that election. In the process of his courageous political experimentation, Roh has gained a reputation as a statesman looking to revolutionize the political atmosphere of the nation, ridding it of its regional strife.
A mediator of reasonable solutions
Even though he did not have the opportunity to serve Pusan in the capacity of a lawmaker or Mayor, he contributed to solving the economic problems that plagued the city with his excellent skills in public policy-making. A prime example of Roh's competence was the sale of the bankrupt Samsung Motors industry based in Pusan. Under his already acknowledged negotiation skills with the labor union, management and government, Samsung Motors was restructured and sold to Renault. During his term as Minister of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries, he exemplified his administrative ability to motivate and lead government officials.
Now, Roh, a standing advisor to the ruling party, is emerging as the most promising candidate for the next presidential election. According to public opinion polls, his broadest base of support is in the Seoul Metropolitan Area which incorporates almost half of all the country's voters. In terms of his ratings as a recognized new leader and public approval, he is the leading candidate.
Roh's continuous fight for the establishment of legitimate political principles and his vision to solve politics problems, including regional conflict, has won him the national recognition and reputation of an innovative politician firmly grounded in integrity. Roh has now come to the crossroads of a new stage in his political career.
|
| |
| |
| |
|
