Background
Roh was born on December 4, 1932, into a farming family in a small village, Talsong, near Taegu, north Kyongsang province. His father, a low-echelon civil officer in the district, died in a car accident when Roh was seven years old.
Roh was born on December 4, 1932, into a farming family in a small village, Talsong, near Taegu, north Kyongsang province. 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 Taegu Technical School but transferred to the local Kyongbuk High School where he was an above-average student. His high school record describes him as a "gentle and hard-working student with a strong sense of responsibility. "
During the Korean War (1950 - 1953) Roh joined the army as an enlisted man and later entered the Korean Military Academy, completing it in the first class of the four-year program in 1955. He fought in the Vietnam War first in 1968 as a lieutenant colonel and later as commander of the ROK unit. Roh was indeed an "ordinary man" unknown to the public until he plunged himself into politics by helping his classmate Chun Doo Hwan to carry out a coup. Roh's stance as president was activist in diplomacy and 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. Successfully hosting the 24th Summer Olympic in Seoul in 1988 was a major accomplishment, followed by his active diplomacy, including his address before the United National General Assembly in October 1988 and his meeting with U. S. President Ronald Reagan in the White House. During his subsequent U. S. trip in 1989, Roh also met with U. S. President George Bush and delivered a speech before a joint session of the U. S. Congress. He also conducted a five-nation European visit in December 1989. On July 7, 1988, he launched an aggressive foreign policy initiative called the Northern Diplomacy, or Nordpolitik, which brought about benefits and rewards to his government. In 1989 Seoul established diplomatic relations with Hungary and Poland, followed by diplomatic ties with Yugoslavia, Romania, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Mongolia in 1990. South Korea's trade with China steadily increased, reaching the $3. 1 billion mark in 1989 at the same time as South Korea's trade with the East European countries and the Soviet Union increased to $800 million. Seoul and Moscow exchanged full consular general's offices in 1990. Roh's emphasis on "economic growth with equity, " although well received by the public, led to the dwindling in the annual economic growth rate from the high of 12. 3 percent in 1988 to 6. 7 percent in 1989. As labor strikes and demands for higher wages intensified, the Roh government imposed an austerity plan to keep South Korea's export-oriented economy more competitive internationally. However, higher wages and the appreciation of the won in value against the U. S. dollar made Korean products less competitive internationally. In order to overcome paralysis of governing due to lack of majority support in the National Assembly, the Roh government sought to attain "a grand compromise" in partisan politics. The surprising announcement of the party merger in January 1990 was an attempt to accomplish this political miracle. The ruling Democratic Justice Party merged with two opposition parties, Kim Young Sam's Reunification and Democracy Party and Kim Jong Pil's New Democratic Republican Party. The newly established Democratic Liberal Party, which commanded more than a two-thirds majority in the legislature, sought to establish political stability so as to enable socio-economic progress. On June 4 Roh Tae Woo, while visiting the United States, met with another presidential visitor, Mikhail Gorbachev of the U. S. S. R. The meeting ended 42 years of official silence between the two countries and paved the way for improved diplomatic relations. The historical significance and legacy of Roh Tae Woo is the broad political reform which he helped to start rolling, steering the country toward greater democracy and pluralism. Yet, he may be just as well remembered for his "trial of the century". On August 26, 1996 former South Korean President Chun Doo Hwan was sentenced to death, and former President Roh Tae Woo was given more than 22 years in prison, for seizing power in a 1979 mutiny. The sentences were later reduced to life and 17 years respectfully. In addition, a three-judge panel confiscated war chests worth about $631 million illegally amassed by Chun and Roh during their dictatorships. They were convicted of masterminding a "creeping coup" which began with an army mutiny in 1979 and ended with a massacre of pro-democracy protesters in the southwestern city of Kwangju in 1980. At least 240 people were killed. Chun has insisted his actions were necessary to defend the country against a possible attack by North Korea in the unstable aftermath of the 1979 assassination of President Park Chung Hee. Roh-designated Prisoner 1437-entered a Seoul courtroom on December 19, 1995 without a hint of the power he once wielded as president. His head bowed and speaking in whispers, he answered more than 200 questions from prosecutors about the $650 million slush fund he admitted to amassing. "I have never, ever intended to accept any bribes, " Roh insisted in an irritated tone. "I have received only donations. I have never swapped them for favors. " Roh did not make a final appeal to the Supreme Court against his convictions for mutiny, treason and bribery. He stated he didn't want to cause any more worries to the public over this incident. The appeals court cut his prison sentence to 17 years from 22 1/2 years.
In 1959 he married Kim Ok-suk.