Hero to villain, Roh faces prosecutors

Hero to villain, Roh faces prosecutors

By Lim Yun-suk

SEOUL (Reuter): In 1987, Roh Tae-woo, a decorated war veteran,
made history when he became South Korea's first popularly elected
president.

On Wednesday, he again entered his name in the country's
history books by becoming its first president, serving or
retired, to be summoned by state prosecutors for a criminal
inquiry into his hidden fortune.

The image of Roh, tall and dignified, announcing to a jubilant
nation a democratic vote for the presidency in a 1987 televised
address is still seared into many Korean memories.

But more vivid now is a picture of Roh wiping away tears as he
confessed last Friday on television that he amassed a $654
million slush fund while in office from 1988-93.

"I'm sorry," the four-star general whispered as he entered the
Seoul prosecutor general's office, his eyes lowered, to face
interrogation over his secret millions.

Handpicked by his predecessor Chun Doo-hwan to step into the
presidential Blue House, Roh chose instead to face elections
after militant students led violent street protests to demand a
popular vote.

He campaigned as a man of the people. In office he discarded
the title "excellency" and opened up the Blue House to the
public.

Commander of a much feared combat unit in the Vietnam War, Roh
was a military classmate of Chun. Later, the troops he commanded
helped Chun grab power in 1979.

Roh's own term in office was blighted by street protests and
economic instability. Two weeks before he left office he was
voted the worst politician in South Korea in a public survey.

But he had greater success as global statesman, scoring a
diplomatic breakthrough with his "Nordpolitik" drive to establish
formal ties with the former Soviet Union and Eastern Bloc
countries.

As the original driving force behind the 1988 Seoul Olympics,
Roh helped South Korea forge a new international identity.
The drama now being played out is eerily reminiscent of Chun's
fall from grace seven years ago.

But Roh is not expected to get off as easily as his one-time
military friend, who escaped trial by retreating into a Buddhist
monastery with his wife for a two-year spell of penitence away
from public view.

Chun turned over to the state more than $20 million of
political funds and personal assets, including his home in Seoul,
by way of apology for corruption during his rule.

Roh was born on Dec. 4, 1932, the son of a poor farmer in
Talsong County, near the southeastern city of Taegu.

He was educated first at the Korean Military Academy in Seoul
and later attended a psychological warfare course at Fort Bragg,
North Carolina.

He retired from the army to serve in turn as minister of state
for political, national security and foreign affairs, as ports
minister and interior minister.

Married to Kim Ok-sook, he has a son and daughter.