Roh Moo-Hyun

When Roh took possession of the Cheongwadae (Blue House), the president's official residence, it was with a mandate to end corruption and for continuing détente with North Korea. If he was seen as politically inexperienced, he was someone fresh – one of the first politicians in the world to exploit the potential of the internet, he carried with him the support of the young, who had delivered his narrow victory at the polls.

To those of a less optimistic cast of mind, his prospects were never good. Two of his eight predecessors had been jailed, two more had seen their sons imprisoned for corruption; one had been forced out of office by street protests and another murdered.

As it turned out, Roh survived his five-year term, but he left his nation disillusioned and seeking consolation in a conservative successor. And when he retired to his home village in search of a rural idyll, that dream too was to be denied him: earlier this year the authorities in Seoul began an investigation into his presidency amid allegations that $6 million had been paid by a shoemaking tycoon to members of his family.

Although his remaining supporters dismissed this as a politically-motivated stunt, Roh was clearly distraught, writing on his blog: "I have lost the right to say anything about democracy, progress and justice. I fell into an abyss which I cannot escape." His suicide came soon afterwards.

Roh Moo-Hyun was born on August 6 1946 into a poor farming family at Kimhae, South Kyonsang province, and educated at Pusan Commercial High School before undertaking military service, in which he attained the rank of corporal.

He was to be almost unique among those who make up South Korea's political elite in that he never went to university. Instead, he worked on building sites to support himself as he laboured for nine years to pass his Bar exams. He then set up as a tax lawyer before becoming a defender of trade unionists and democracy activists during the politically turbulent 1980s.

In one of his early cases he represented a group of left-wing students who had had their toenails extracted by the police. His activities soon brought him to the attention of the former generals who ruled South Korea until 1988, and in 1987 he was jailed for three weeks for supporting an illegal strike.

In 1988 South Korea enjoyed its first democratic elections, and Roh was elected to parliament for the city of Pusan. He became known to a wider audience through his skilful questioning of witnesses in the televised hearings in which former President Chun Doo-Hwan and other members of the ruling elite were being investigated for corruption.

At the next election, however, Roh lost his seat, and it was 10 years before he regained a foothold on the national political stage. In the meantime, his supporters had formed a political fan club called Nosamo (We Love Roh). In 1998 Kim Dae-Jung, the hero of the South Korean democracy movement, became president, and two years later he appointed Roh minister for maritime affairs and fisheries.

Given his lack of political, diplomatic or military experience, Roh's victory in the presidential election of 2002 was unexpected. But it was the very fact that he was seen as untainted by the old order that enhanced his appeal. This was particularly true in the case of young voters, those born since the Korean War and for whom the Cold War between communism and the West was a historical, rather than a present, reality.

There was also an energy and informality about Roh which appealed to his young constituents, who were bored with the greyness and unremitting gravity of the traditional political class. He was particularly alive to the possibilities of the internet, which he used to great effect during his campaign.

Meanwhile, he envisioned a north-east Asian trading block similar to the European Union, with Seoul as its centre. "America has New York, Europe has London, and Asia will have Seoul," he declared. And he pledged to fight corruption and reform the conglomerates that controlled the South Korean economy.

As president, Roh continued Kim's so-called "Sunshine Policy" of political engagement with North Korea. In his younger days Roh had called for the withdrawal of American troops from South Korea, and although he had since recanted, this did not recommend him to President George W Bush, who took a hard line against the North when it tested a nuclear device in 2006. The following year Roh attended a summit in the North Korean capital Pyongyang, where he signed a number of co-operation deals between the two nations. Roh remained committed to positive diplomacy alongside a tough stance when it came to inhibiting North Korean ambitions.

In 2004 Roh had been impeached and stripped of his powers for publicly supporting his own party – a contravention, albeit minor, of the constitutional neutrality of the president. He was reinstated after two months, however, by South Korea's Constitutional Court.

If the conservatives detested Roh, he did little in office to endear himself to the left. He agreed to send troops to Iraq, and in 2007 signed a free-trade agreement with the United States, despite noisy demonstrations in the streets. By the time he left office in 2008 he was exhausted; throughout his term he had been hounded by the right-wing press, and his successor was the conservative Lee Myung Bak, former chief executive of Hyundai.

Roh retired to his home village, where he grew organic rice and occupied himself with his blog. Then came the allegations of bribery and corruption. His wife was accused of accepting $1 million from a businessman at the centre of a high-profile corruption scandal; his son and daughter were said to have bought expensive properties in the United States.

Having said that he would co-operate with the investigation, Roh appeared to admit that his "house" had taken money, and shortly before his death he wrote on his website: "I no longer symbolise the values you pursue."

In a suicide note he wrote: "Because of the state I am in, I cannot do anything. I cannot even write or read a book."

He added: "Do not be sad. Are not life and death all part of nature?... Please cremate me and leave a small tombstone near my home."

Last Saturday morning he went for a walk with his bodyguard, whom he asked for a cigarette before leaping to his death off a 100ft cliff.

Roh Moo-Hyun's wife, Kwon Yang-sook, and their son and daughter survive him.

Published May 25 2009