“It’s a pity that Korea will stop” Former Prime Minister Noh Jae-bong said until the moment he left.

“It is unfortunate that the miraculous Republic of Korea may come to a halt.”

This is what former Prime Minister Noh Jae-bong, who passed away on the 23rd, confessed at a study meeting with his students early this year. He worried about his country until the moment he left. He died at the age of 88. The deceased was diagnosed with blood cancer a year ago and was admitted to a nursing hospital in Seoul. However, his condition worsened and he passed away at Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital on the night of the 23rd. Even while former Prime Minister Roh was moving from hospital to hospital for a year and receiving hemodialysis treatment, he often said to those around him, “We need to help the Yoon Seok-yeol government get through this in a constructive way.”

The Roh Tae-woo government, in which former Prime Minister Roh served, faced head-on the turbulent domestic and international situation in the late 80s and early 90s. It is assessed that former Prime Minister Roh played a significant role in resolving the difficulties of the wave of democratization and the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Former Presidential Chief of Staff Lee Byeong-ki, who was a student of the Department of Foreign Affairs at Seoul National University and worked together in the Blue House Secretariat under the Roh Tae-woo administration, said in a phone call, “He was the backbone of overcoming difficult times with his excellent perspective and insight.” He added, “He was a true teacher at my alma mater, and a great senior whom I want to emulate in the government.” “It was my older brother,” he said.

Former Prime Minister Roh graduated from the Department of Political Science at Seoul National University, went to Brigham Young University in the United States, and earned a doctorate from New York University Graduate School. While other international students were dealing with Korean issues, he studied French thinker Alexis Tocqueville (1805-1859) and received a doctorate in seven years. Based on this, he introduced Tocqueville’s ideas to Korea in 1975 with his book 『Citizen Democracy』. Tocqueville, who was active around the time of the birth of democracy about 200 years ago, warned that “democracy by the majority can spread into dictatorship.”

‘Scholar Noh Jae-bong’ did not spare any advice to the political world. While serving as a professor at Seoul National University’s Department of Foreign Affairs since 1967, he advised the ‘centrist integration theory’ to Lee Cheol-seung, leader of the New Democratic Party, who led the 40s leadership theory along with the ‘two Kims’ (Kim Young-sam and Kim Dae-jung) in the mid-1970s. In 1987, when the June Uprising was in full swing, he served as an advisor to Roh Tae-woo, leader of the Democratic Justice Party, and participated in the writing of the June 29 Declaration, which included constitutional amendments for the direct election system.

In 1988, when former President Roh took office, he entered politics by being selected as a special assistant for foreign affairs in the President’s Office, and moved to the position of Chief of Staff to the President in 1990. He served as a local control tower at the Korea-Soviet summit held in San Francisco in June 1990, contributing to the agreement between former President Roh Tae-woo and Soviet President Gorbachev on the principles of diplomatic relations.

He took office as Prime Minister in January 1991, but he resigned from the position after four months due to the death of Myongji University student Kang Kyung-dae and the Suseo residential land preferential sale incident. During the 14th general election in 1992, he became a national member of the National Assembly as a member of the Democratic Liberal Party, and four years later, after failing to be elected to his district (Gangnam-gap, Seoul) in the 15th general election in 1996, he served as president of Seoul Digital University for three years from 2002.

Afterwards, he mainly focused on training younger students. In particular, during the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye in 2017, a conservative study group called ‘Korea Freedom Association’ was created. Members include Unification Minister Kim Young-ho and former Kyonggi University professor Cho Seong-hwan. Former Prime Minister Roh published 『Political Dialogue』 (2015) and 『Korean Liberal Democracy and Its Enemies』 (2018), which pointed out problems in Korean politics based on discussions with his students.

It is said that they were concerned when the pan-opposition party won seats close to the constitutional amendment line in the 22nd general election. Do Hee-yoon, Secretary General of the Liberty Korea Association of Korea, said, “Even during your illness, you often said, ‘The opposition party that imposes legislative dictatorship just because it has become the majority party is neither the left nor the right, but an anti-Korea force.’” Former Prime Minister Roh pointed out in a media interview in 2020, “The left is leading the Republic of Korea to fall into totalitarianism.”

Former Prime Minister Roh’s funeral will be held as a family funeral for three days. The funeral will be held at the funeral hall of Seoul St. Mary’s Hospital, and condolences will be accepted from the morning of the 25th. His death date is on the morning of the 27th. His surviving family members include his wife Jiyeonwol (88), a fellow student at Seoul National University, his daughter Mora (62), who lives in the United States, and his son Jin (57).

Reporter Hyoseong Kim [email protected]