Ex-South Korean leader Roh commits suicide at 62
source: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090524/ap_on_re_as/as_skorea_obit_roh
-
-
- Donovanwilliams
- added this
By JEAN H. LEE, Associated Press Writer Jean H. Lee, Associated Press Writer – 1 hr 13 mins ago
SEOUL, South Korea – Former President Roh Moo-hyun, embroiled in a penetrating corruption investigation, leaped to his death — a shocking end for a man whose rags-to-riches rise took him from rural poverty to Seoul's presidential Blue House. He was 62.
Roh, a self-taught lawyer who never attended college and didn't have the elite background typical of Seoul politicians, had prided himself on being a "clean" leader immune to South Korea's traditional web of corruption.
Allegations that Roh, president from 2003-08, accepted $6 million in bribes from a businessman while in office weighed heavily on the ex-leader, who appeared emotionally wrought last month as he prepared to face prosecutors.
Roh hurled himself off a 100 foot (30 meter) high cliff early Saturday while hiking, trailed by a security guard, near his home in Bongha, police in the nearby southern port city of Busan said. Life had become unbearable and "too many people are suffering because of me," Roh wrote in a note found on his computer, police said.
SEOUL, South Korea – Former President Roh Moo-hyun, embroiled in a penetrating corruption investigation, leaped to his death — a shocking end for a man whose rags-to-riches rise took him from rural poverty to Seoul's presidential Blue House. He was 62.
Roh, a self-taught lawyer who never attended college and didn't have the elite background typical of Seoul politicians, had prided himself on being a "clean" leader immune to South Korea's traditional web of corruption.
Allegations that Roh, president from 2003-08, accepted $6 million in bribes from a businessman while in office weighed heavily on the ex-leader, who appeared emotionally wrought last month as he prepared to face prosecutors.
Roh hurled himself off a 100 foot (30 meter) high cliff early Saturday while hiking, trailed by a security guard, near his home in Bongha, police in the nearby southern port city of Busan said. Life had become unbearable and "too many people are suffering because of me," Roh wrote in a note found on his computer, police said.
-
- groups:
- Politics, Culture, south korea
-
- tags:
- Politics, Culture, Current TV, South Korea, 2 more
-
-
twitterbot
-
@NewsWorldNow on twitter says "World News: Former SKorean leader leaps to death over scandal (AP)"
- 3 years ago
-
twitterbot
