TTO - “Nỗi đau tôi gây ra cho nhiều người là quá lớn. Nỗi đau của những ngày sắp tới là quá sâu sắc… Phần còn lại của cuộc đời tôi sẽ chỉ là gánh nặng cho những người khác.” - cựu tổng thống Roh Moo Hyun đã viết như thế trong thư tuyệt mệnh của mình.
| Người Hàn Quốc bàng hoàng theo dõi tin ông Roh tự sát qua truyền hình - Ảnh: Reuters |
Hãng tin Yonhap dẫn lời ông Moon Jae In, cựu chánh văn phòng của ông Roh, cho biết ông Roh viết bức thư tuyệt mệnh trên máy vi tính cá nhân chỉ một giờ trước khi rời khỏi nhà. “Xin đừng buồn. Chẳng phải sinh tử là một phần của cuộc sống hay sao? Đừng hối tiếc, cũng đừng đổ lỗi cho ai. Đó là số phận”. Trong thư, ông Roh còn yêu cầu được hỏa táng và được đặt một ngôi mộ nhỏ ở làng Bongha.
Báo Korea Times dẫn nguồn cảnh sát cho biết ông Roh ra khỏi nhà vào lúc 5g45 để đi leo núi cùng một người vệ sĩ, và nhảy xuống khe vực sâu 20-30 m ở phía sau nhà vào lúc 6g40.
Cái chết của ông Roh là một cú sốc lớn đối với đất nước Hàn Quốc. Yonhap dẫn lời đương kim tổng thống Lee Myung Bak tuyên bố đây là “một bi kịch của dân tộc”. Ông Lee ra lệnh cho cấp dưới tổ chức lễ tang ông Roh “với sự kính trọng và theo đúng thủ tục dành cho cựu tổng thống”.
Cựu tổng thống Kim Dae Jung, người tiền nhiệm của ông Roh, thì tuyên bố “đã mất đi một người bạn thân suốt đời”. Thủ tướng Nhật Taro Aso cũng đã gửi điện chia buồn. Bộ trưởng tư pháp Kim Kyung Han tuyên bố sẽ chấm dứt cuộc điều tra vụ án tham nhũng đối với gia đình ông Roh.
Nhiều người dân Hàn Quốc đã bày tỏ sự tiếc thương sâu sắc trước sự ra đi của ông Roh. Ngược lại, cũng không ít người tỏ ra thất vọng với quyết định tự sát của ông. Sinh viên Im Shin Kuk cho rằng “tự sát không phải là cách cư xử có trách nhiệm” đối với một cựu tổng thống. “Chắc chắn ông ấy đã phải đối mặt với rất nhiều áp lực. Nhưng lẽ ra ông ấy phải suy nghĩ chín chắn hơn”.
S.Korea's ex-president dead, suicide note found
SEOUL (AFP) – Former South Korean president Roh Moo-Hyun, who was at the centre of a multi-million dollar corruption probe, plunged to his death off a mountainside Saturday in an apparent suicide.
Police said they were investigating whether Roh, who held office from 2003-2008, killed himself. A former aide said the ex-leader jumped off a cliff after leaving a suicide note.
Roh, 62, had left home around dawn with a bodyguard and climbed a mountain near his retirement village of Bongha close to the southeast coast.
"He jumped off a rock on the mountain at 6:40 am (2140 GMT Friday)," former chief presidential secretary Moon Jae-In told journalists.
"He left a short suicide note addressed to his family members."
Police in Gyeongsangnam province confirmed a suicide note was found on Roh's computer at his home. A hospital in the southern city of Busan said he was pronounced dead from massive head injuries at 9:30 am.
"It has been so tough," local media quoted the suicide note as saying. "I caused so much trouble to many people.
"Please cremate my body. Please erect a small tombstone for me at the village."
A shocked President Lee Myung-Bak described the death as a national tragedy.
"It is truly hard to believe what happened. It is a sad, tragic incident," he was quoted by his spokesman as saying.
Roh, a former human rights lawyer, was credited with working to make his nation more democratic and less authoritarian.
He also doggedly pursued reconciliation with North Korea despite its 2006 nuclear and missile tests, holding a landmark summit with leader Kim Jong-Il in Pyongyang in 2007.
Critics said the South gave the North too much for too little in return. A relatively sluggish economic performance, high youth unemployment and soaring property prices also undermined Roh's popularity.
And Roh's reputation as a clean leader was tarnished when he was questioned by prosecutors last month as a suspect in the corruption probe -- the third former leader to be quizzed on graft charges after leaving office.
The investigation centred around a payment worth one million dollars to Roh's wife from a wealthy shoe manufacturer, and a payment by the same man worth five million dollars to the husband of one of Roh's nieces.
Prosecutors had said they were considering issuing an arrest warrant.
Roh had apologised for his family's involvement in the case but had not admitted personal wrongdoing.
"I feel ashamed before my fellow citizens," he said at the time. "I am sorry to have disappointed you."
Kim Dae-Jung, Roh's predecessor as president, expressed "great shock and sorrow," according to an aide.
"I've lost my life-long companion, with whom I took part in struggles for democracy and shared 10 years of a democratic government," Kim said.
"Allegations concerning his family members have been leaked to the press every day," Kim said. "He was probably unable to bear the pressure and tensions any longer."
Roh's body was taken in convoy to his retirement village where aides said the funeral would be held. Uniformed police lined the route out of the hospital.
Hundreds of Roh's supporters and lawmakers of the main opposition Democratic Party, who gathered at the village, denounced prosecutors for what they called an "unreasonable and indiscriminate" investigation into the Roh family, Yonhap news agency reported.
They also expressed anger at media organisations for what they termed biased reporting.
Some 800 supporters gathered at an altar outside Deoksu palace in central Seoul. Mourners, some sobbing, laid flowers before a large photo and burnt incense.
Roh worked his way up from a farming village to the presidency, but in many ways remained an outsider whose bluntness alienated both political opponents and the public.
In the 2002 presidential election he scored a dramatic upset victory.
He pushed a generally liberal agenda, calling for a fairer distribution of wealth and characterising himself as a fighter for the underprivileged.
But his aggressive and provocative remarks, coupled with a lack of skill in building political ties, often led to confrontations.
Roh bowed out in February 2008 after what he called a turbulent term. "I will be able to watch TV news comfortably from now on," he said at the time.
But little more than a year later he was back in the headlines as the graft probe expanded.
