South Korean Ex-President Kills Himself 

SEOUL, South Korea — Former President Roh Moo-hyun of South Korea, whose reputation as an upstanding political leader had been tarnished recently by a corruption scandal, committed suicide on Saturday by jumping off a cliff near his retirement home, according to his aides and the police.

Mr. Roh, 62, died while he was hiking on a hill in Bongha, a village near the southeast corner of South Korea, Moon Jae-in, Mr. Roh’s former presidential chief of staff, said during a news conference. He left a brief will for his family, Mr. Moon said.

Mr. Roh suffered fatal head injuries and was declared dead in a hospital in Pusan, the largest regional city, said Park Chan-jo, a police officer. Mr. Roh was accompanied by a bodyguard during his morning hike.

President Lee Myung-bak, Mr. Roh’s successor, found the news “difficult to believe,” his office said.

Mr. Roh, who had prided himself on being a clean politician during his term from 2003 to 2008, was questioned for 10 hours on April 30 by state prosecutors over his alleged involvement in a corruption scandal that has already landed some of his relatives and aides in jail.

“I can’t look you in the face because of shame,” Mr. Roh told reporters before he presented himself for questioning by prosecutors in Seoul, who had accused him of taking $6 million in bribes from a businessman while in office. “I apologize for disappointing the people.”

In his last posting on his Web site, on April 22, he wrote, “You should now discard me.”

He added: “I no longer symbolize the values you pursue. I am no longer qualified to speak for such things as democracy, progressiveness and justice.”

His apology was typical for a South Korean politician, who is expected to take moral responsibility for a corruption scandal that implicated aides and relatives, even if Mr. Roh denied most of the bribery allegations against him. But prosecutors had been considering indicting him on bribery ges.

In recent weeks, several of his aides and relatives had been arrested or questioned on ges of taking bribes. His elder brother also was arrested in December on bribery ges.

Prosecutors suspected that Mr. Roh, while president, solicited a total of $6 million from a shoe manufacturer, payments that are alleged to have been made to his wife, his son and his brother’s son-in-law. Both his wife and son have been questioned by the prosecutors.

Mr. Roh’s case, which involves a relatively unknown businessman, appeared relatively minor in scandal-ridden South Korean politics. Former presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo were imprisoned in the 1990s for collecting hundreds of millions of dollars from the nation’s biggest conglomerate.

The scandal and the ensuing criticism from his political enemies dealt a devastating blow to Mr. Roh.

(노무현의 경우, 비교적 잘 알려지지 않은 사업가와 연루되어있으며, 한국 정치인들의 스캔들에 있어 비교적 경한 사건으로 보인다. 전두환 전대통령과 노태우 전대통령은 1990년대 한국의 가장 큰 재벌기업으로 부터 수억 달러를 축적한 것과관련하여 투옥된 바 있다)

In his will, which was released to the news media on Saturday, Mr. Roh wrote, “I owe too much to many people. Many people suffered too much because of me.”

He added, “I have thought about this for a long time.”

A former human rights and labor lawyer considered a political maverick, Mr. Roh swept into power in the December 2002 election on the crest of nationalistic — and sometimes anti-American — sentiments among young voters. During his campaign he famously declared that he would be the first South Korean leader “not to kowtow to the Americans.”

(그의 캠페인 기간 동안, 그는 첫번째로 "미국에 고두(비굴하게 조아리며 아부)하지 않는" 한국의 원수가 될 것이라는 유명한 선언을 하였다).

But his efforts to free South Korea from its traditional dependence on Washington in its diplomacy alienated many South Koreans. 

A version of this article appeared in print on May 23, 2009, on page A8 of the New York edition.