Roh Tae-woo

Roh Tae-woo (4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean politician and army general who served as the 6th (13th election) president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993.

He was the first democratically elected president of South Korea.

Roh was born on 4 December 1932 in Daegu.

During the Korean War (1950–1953), Roh joined the South Korean army as an enlisted conscript in an artillery unit, alongside singer Song Hae.

He was promoted to Sergeant Cannoneer of an M114 155 mm howitzer gun line.

He later entered the Korean Military Academy, completing it in the first class of the four-year program, he graduated in February 1954 with a Bachelor of Science degree and a commission as an Army 2nd Lieutenant in the 11th class of the Korea Military Academy (KMA).

A commissioned officer in the infantry from 1954, Roh rose steadily through the ranks and fought in the Vietnam War, first in 1968 as a lieutenant colonel and battalion commander, later was promoted to major general and the commander of White Horse Division in 1979.

A member of the Hanahoe, a secret military group, he gave critical support to a coup later that year in which Chun became the de facto ruler of South Korea.

Roh held several key army posts such as Commander of the Capital Security Command in 1979 and Commander of the Defense Security Command in 1980.

When Roh first joined the military, his surname was transcribed in English as "No."

He later changed it to "Roh" to avoid the negative connotations of "No" in English.

Despite his involvement in the 12 December 1979 coup d'état against then-President Choi Kyu-hah and the bloody military crackdown of dissidents in the Gwangju Uprising of 18–27 May 1980 and with an eye on the Blue House in the upcoming 1987 presidential elections, Roh began working to distance himself from the unpopular Chun government.

The reason was that Roh worked to carry out his own agenda for democratic reform.

By agreeing to meeting the demands of the political opposition in terms of political reforms with his eight-point proposal including direct election of the President, Roh successfully upstaged Chun and boosted his own image as a reformer.

Roh was a close ally and friend of Chun Doo-hwan, the predecessor leader of the country who ruled as an unelected military dictator from 1980 to 1988, and unofficially since 1979.

Roh helped Chun lead troops against the Gwangju Democratization Movement in 1980.

Following his retirement from the Korean Army in July 1981, Roh accepted President Chun's offer of the post of Minister of State for National Security and Foreign Affairs.

Later, he served as Sports Minister, Home Affairs Minister, President of the Seoul Olympics Organizing Committee, and in 1985, chairman of the ruling Democratic Justice Party.

He was a leader of the Democratic Justice Party from 1987 to 1990 and was known for having passed the June 29 Declaration in 1987 as the leader of the party.

Roh died on 26 October 2021, at the age of 88.

In June 1987, Chun named Roh as the presidential candidate of the ruling Democratic Justice Party.

This was widely perceived as handing Roh the presidency, and triggered large pro-democracy rallies in Seoul and other cities in the 1987 June Democracy Movement.

In response, Roh made a speech on 29 June promising a wide program of reforms.

Chief among them were a new, more democratic constitution and popular election of the president.

In the election, the two leading opposition figures, Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung (both of whom later became presidents), were unable to overcome their differences and split the vote, in spite of the first female presidential candidate, Hong Sook-ja in South Korean electoral history withdrawing from the race to support Kim Young-sam against Roh.

This enabled Roh to win by a narrow margin with 36.6% of the vote and become the country's first cleanly elected president on 16 December 1987.

Most notably, he oversaw preparations for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, which he officially declared open.

Roh was inaugurated as president on 25 February 1988.

For the first time, the ceremony was held outside the National Assembly.

Subsequent presidents have been inaugurated at the same location.

In his inauguration speech, Roh pledged to open an era of democracy, bringing into full play the people's potential.

Roh's rule was notable for hosting the Seoul Olympics in 1988 and for his foreign policy of Nordpolitik, which represented a major break from previous administrations.

True to his word, he remained committed to democratic reforms and was steadfast in the push toward political and socio-economic reforms at home.

Democratization of politics, economic "growth with equity," and national reunification were the three policy goals publicly stated by the Roh administration.

In 1996, both leaders were sentenced for their roles in orchestrating coups as well as their subsequent human rights abuses such as the Gwangju Massacre, but were pardoned the following year by Kim Young-sam on advice of president-elect Kim Dae-jung.

He is the 16th generation descendant of Noh Sa-sin who was a civil minister and scholar during early Joseon period.

Noh Sa-sin is 6th generation descendant of the late Goryeo period bureaucrat Noh Jin.

His father, a low-echelon civil officer in the district, died in a car accident when Roh was seven years old.

With his uncle's help, Roh first enrolled at the Daegu Technical School but transferred to the local Kyongbuk High School where he was an above-average student.

Roh befriended Chun Doo-hwan while in high school in Daegu.