President Roh Moo Hyun

South Korean politics Death of a leader A former president of South Korea, Roh Moo-hyun, jumps off a cliff and kills himself THE home of the former South Korean president, Roh Moo-hyun, in the tiny village of Bongha, is surrounded by picturesque wooded hills. In the spring fire swept across the hills, blackening them. At the same time, in April, Mr Roh’s reputation was being tarnished as he admitted to graft. Since then Mr Roh, whose elder brother is in prison after being convicted of bribery...Read Full Story

In a political about-face, a South Korean commission investigating a century of human rights abuses has ruled that the U.S. military's large-scale killing of refugees during the Korean War, in case after case, arose out of military necessity. Shutting down the inquiry into South Korea's hidden history, the commission also will leave unexplored scores of suspected mass graves believed to hold remains of tens of thousands of South Korean political detainees summarily executed by their own...Read Full Story

A popular South Korean actor and singer killed himself Wednesday in distress over career pressures while caring for his terminally ill father, police said in the latest in a recent string of high-profile suicides in the Asian country. Park Yong-ha, 33, was believed to have "impulsively" hanged himself with the electric cord of his camcorder at his Seoul home hours after he came home intoxicated, Seoul's Gangnam Police Station said in a statement. "We have determined that it's obvious he...Read Full Story

US military commanders are offering a strident defense of plans to give South Korea control of both nations' forces in two years, brushing aside concerns it could worsen the threat from North Korea. As of April 17, 2012, South Korea is set to be in control of both its own and US forces in the event of war. South Korea has already had peacetime operational control since 1994, but with a US general taking over in wartime. Admiral Robert Willard, head of the US Pacific Command which covers Asia...Read Full Story

Grieving mourners from both South Korea and Japan bid farewell Friday to a popular South Korean actor and singer who committed suicide earlier this week. A funeral ceremony was scheduled for Park Yong-ha, 33, who killed himself Wednesday in distress over career and family pressures, the latest in a string of high-profile suicides in the Asian country. Park's suicide stunned South Korea and neighboring Japan where he was one of the most popular South Korean celebrities. One of his fans was...Read Full Story