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| President Moon Jae-in walks by a cardboard cutout of former President Roh Moo-hyun after a speech during a memorial service for the late president at Roh's hometown of Bongha Village, Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Tuesday. Moon was Roh's longtime friend and his chief of staff. / Joint press corps |
By Kim Rahn
President Moon Jae-in may have been filled with emotion when he attended the memorial service for the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, his longtime friend, Tuesday.
It has been Moon's wish to realize Roh's unachieved dream, and as president now, he is much closer to doing so.
An aide to Moon said if Roh had been alive, he would have patted Moon on the back in a gesture to congratulate his friend's election victory. But if he had been alive, Moon may not have entered politics and run for the presidency because after Roh's death, Moon took a path he had never planned.
The two met in 1982 in Busan, working together as human rights lawyers. Though they did not make big money, they helped people who couldn't afford lawyers, mainly exploited factory employees.
In his autobiography, Moon wrote, "Looking back, it feels like everything including the moment I met him and the path I chose to walk, was destined to happen."
Roh entered the political circle and persuaded his friend to join him, but Moon refused. But when Roh became the president in 2002, Moon accepted his request to serve as senior secretary for civil affairs and later his chief of staff. Roh used to describe Moon as a respectable, trustworthy friend and said he was proud of having him as a friend.
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When Roh headed to his hometown of Bongha Village in South Gyeongsang Province after retirement, Moon often visited him. Moon was with Roh when the latter had a hard time undergoing a prosecution investigation into corruption allegations under the Lee Myung-bak administration.
Roh killed himself during the investigation in 2009. It was Moon who officially announced his longtime friend's death. He also played the role of chief mourner during the funeral service.
After that, Moon, who had never thought about being a politician, entered the political arena, becoming the major liberal party's chief, a presidential candidate, and finally the president.
"If I had not met Roh, I might have lived in comfort, often helping people. But his passion always awakened me. Even his death did. It drove me to his path. He said in his suicide note, ‘It is my destiny.' But I thought, ‘It is MY destiny. You are now freed from your destiny, but I've got entangled in the assignment you left,'" he said in the biography.
He once said during election campaigning, "If I take the office, I'll tell him at his memorial service, ‘Now you rest in peace. I'll realize your unachieved dreams.'"
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| President Moon Jae-in burns incense as first lady Kim Jung-sook watches during a ceremony to mark the eighth year since his friend former President Roh Moo-hyun's death at Bongha Village in Gimhae, South Gyeongsang Province, Monday. / Yonhap |
At Tuesday's service, Moon again recalled Roh's dreams.
"The name ‘Roh Moo-hyun' has become a symbol of a world without cheating and privilege, a world where common sense and principles work," Moon said in his memorial speech.
He said Roh's effort for such goals failed and the nation's politics have regressed since then. "But his dream has been revived as people power," Moon said, referring to the citizens' candlelit protests which led to the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye over a corruption scandal.
Moon, who has always attended the annual memorial service for Roh since his death, said he would not do so during his term. "I promise that I'll come again after fulfilling my duty successfully," he told his friend. "Then, please welcome me with your bright smile."
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