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The recent suicide of ex South Korean President, Noh Mu Hyun (노무현) has received 24 hour coverage in the South Korean press. The suicide came as a shock to most people and thousands paid their respects to the deceased president by laying flowers on his tomb.

For those of you who don’t know Noh Mu Hyun (노무현), he was the underdog of politics. He did not have a sparkling pedigree like many of politicians in South Korea. In fact, he never attended university. His family could not afford it. He supported himself by working menial jobs and studying by night, to pass the bar exam. He eventually became a lawyer and gained public attention by questioning government officials about a possible corruption scheme. Ironically, these same allegatons of government corruption plagued the last days of his administration.

Noh (노) was considered to be an unconventional president. He did not speak as eloquently as the other politicians. He was kind of like the George W. Bush of South Korean politics. His rise to the presidency was a miracle. In 1990, he ran for the Democratic Pary (민주당) and lost. He ran again in 1992, 1995, 1996, 1997 and 2000 and lost all those times. Finally, in 2002 he won by a thin margin.

As president, Noh (노) expanded many social programs. He was popular with the elderly and the rural poor because of these programs. In general though, his presidency was a tumultous one. He left his own party to form his own party called the Uri Party (열린우리). His decision to send troops to Iraq upon the request of George Bush was unpopular. He was viewed as mishandling the economy. His presidency saw the rise of housing prices and taxes.

After he left office on a bad note, investigations into a bribery scheme involving Noh surfaced in the public. It turned out Noh accepted an estimated $6 million dollars to “influence” some policy decisions. There was also evidence of Noh accepting money to buy lavish items like a $100,000 watch, and expensive apartment complexes in the U.S. Family members of Noh were questioned and also held guilty. Noh’s reputation was severly tarnished. He was considered a populist “people’s president”. He ran his campaign slogan as a government reformer, someone who would clean up corruption. It may be this hypocrisy that lead people to criticize Noh in the press.

On May 23rd, Noh committed suicide by jumping off a cliff. He left a suicide note apologizing to the public for his actions. The aftermath of his suicide also raised controversy. Some said that there was a conspiracy to kill Noh. Some felt that the media, the public, and other politicians were to blame for his death. They say that in the history of South Korean politics, no Korean president has been criticized as much as Noh has been criticized. Others felt no pity for Noh. They viewed him as a traitor to his country.

With North Korea being in the news these days, Noh has slowly faded from the press and the public’s mind. Perhaps now he can finally rest in peace.