By Thanks to the bodyguard’s lies the death of President Roh Moo-hyun looks like is going to turn into Korea’s very own grassy knoll conspiracy:
“Owl Rock” offers a unique vantage point from which to look out over Bongwha Village, the hometown of the late former President Roh Moo-hyun, May 26.
It was confirmed that there was no bodyguard present when the former President Roh Moo-hyun committed suicide on May 23. Accordingly, police have launched a reinvestigation of what the former president was doing on the day of suicide.
“It may be that the bodyguard sent by the Cheong Wa Dae was not present when the former president threw himself from ‘Owl Rock,’” an official of the Cheong Wa Dae (the presidential office in South Korea or Blue House) said on Tuesday. “The bodyguard failed to find him and created a false story,” the official added.
A police official said, “The bodyguard has changed his account of his whereabouts several times, and we have summoned him again to the South Gyungsang Police Agency for further questioning.”
The police have secured the content of a radio communications report to the Cheong Wa Dae in which the bodyguard said, “I missed him. I cannot see him.” Another police official confirmed the content, but said, “We do not know when the radio communication took place. We will find that out through further investigation.” [Hankyoreh]
Kalani has been all over this story in the comments section of my previous posting on Roh’s suicide. Kalani makes a good point about who was the bodyguard talking to on the radio? Also some versions of the story claim that the bodyguard was escorting another hiker down the mountain. Then who is that person? What did that person tell Roh? Did that person tell him something that would cause Roh to want to commit suicide? Was the bodyguard covering up for that person so it wouldn’t be known he talked to Roh before his death?
There are a number of inconsistencies in the bodyguards story even in the newer versions:
“It is believed that former President Roh fell from Owl Rock after sending his security guard on an errand to a nearby temple,” Lee Woon-wu, commissioner of the Gyeongnam Provincial Police Agency, said.
According to the police commissioner, Roh arrived at Owl Rock at 6:14 a.m. with security guard Lee and asked him for a cigarette. Three minutes later, Roh instructed his guard to go to Jongtowon Temple, a small Buddhist temple about 200 meters further up the mountain, to see if the head monk was present, the commissioner saod.
A mortuary tablet in honor of the former president’s deceased parents is enshrined at the temple.
“Roh may have plunged from Owl Rock while alone. The security guard belatedly looked for the missing former president and spotted him at 6:45 a.m. The guard then carried Roh on his back to a car at the residence before rushing him to a nearby hospital,” said the commissioner.
Investigators at the Gyeongnam police agency said they have been confused by the security guard’s conflicting accounts about the circumstances leading to Roh’s apparent suicide.
At one point, the security guard had said he was turning away an approaching citizen at the moment the former president fell from the cliff, investigators said, speculating that the guard may have lied for fear of being punished for dereliction of duty. [Yonhap]
First of all what are the odds that the bodyguard would leave the side of Roh? Secondly why would he carry Roh on his back and rush him to a hospital? Why wouldn’t he have called 119 for an ambulance as well as a stretcher? Also according to the Korea Herald Roh was lying on the ground for a full 30 minutes before the bodyguard found him. It apparently only took the bodyguard three minutes to walk to the temple and then walk back to Roh. So why did it take 27 minutes for him to find Roh’s body?
Then there is the suicide note which I pointed out in my earlier posting was on a computer which I found strange. Now it has come to light that the note wasn’t even saved so no one can determine what time it was even written. There are a ton of other rumors out there that you can read over at the Marmot’s Hole, but these are the ones that are at least being published in the Korean mainstream media. As the days go by hopefully the facts and rumors about what happened can be sorted out.
One thing I do know for sure is that it would make absolutely no sense for Lee Myung-bak to have ordered Roh killed as some on the Korean left are claiming.
11:53 pm on May 26th, 2009 1
"One thing I do know for sure is that it would make absolutely no sense for Lee Myung-bak to have ordered Roh killed as some on the Korean left are claiming."
I agree. Roh is clearly more popular dead than alive. Why would the conservative forces want to create a progressive martyr capable of mobilizing the masses this summer?
12:31 am on May 27th, 2009 2
After living in Korea for several years, you shouldn't have to wonder about this.
It simply the way Koreans react in situations like this.
One of the most basic rules of first aid is to not move the body of someone who might have a spinal injury.
Koreans never learned this in first aid class though. Their instinct is to load a body on their back and run for medical help.
2:49 am on May 27th, 2009 3
Just a thought, maybe the guard was sent away and the story changed because the guard now needs to explain why he left the former President alone. I believe it may be an issue of saving face for the guard.
12:33 pm on May 27th, 2009 4
There's a lot of information — or rather misinformation — flying everywhere. There are too many versions out there to make any sense of where this police reinvestigation is going to go.
To recap: (1) First version has bodyguard at cliff when Roh jumps; (2) Second version has bodyguard at temple when Roh jumps; (3) Third version has bodyguard turning away a hiker when Roh jumps; (4) Fourth version has bodyguard at bottom of hill when Roh jumps; and (5) Fifth version has Roh and bodyguard going to the temple and then going to the cliff together where Roh jumps.
The question for version 1: If Roh was contemplating suicide, why didn't he simply tell the bodyguard to go get cigarettes at home? Then he could have committed suicide without any charades.
The question for version 2: Why did the bodyguard lie in the first place? It also appears that the police KNEW he lied because the temple headman had told them about the bodyguard's visit. Were the police involved in a coverup as well?
The question for version 3: Why did the bodyguard change his story when confronted with the fact that a hiker stated that he saw a person matching the description of the bodyguard alone on the trail. It was only then that the guard said he escorted a hiker down the trail.
Version 4 is the same as Version 3 except that bodyguard at BOTTOM of hill. Version 5 from Korea Herald and maybe confusion of facts.
As to the note, there are now two versions. (1) Roh awoke before 5. The note was written at 5:21 immediately before he went on the hike. Note NOT printed and saved and only on screen. Note released to press at 9:14 am even before Roh declared dead at 9:30 am — and before news conference at 11 am — and even before the Busan police could verify the contents. (2) Note WAS saved — but not printed. However, that the title was the wording in the SECOND line. The importance is that an untitled document is usually saved as the wording in the FIRST line. This means that the document was PREVIOUSLY saved and the first line added later. The question is a computer generated note is impersonal — and suicide is VERY personal.
The main point is that there is no PROOF that Roh actually wrote this note. Supposedly it was in a secured room that only Roh had access to…but look at the time frame. The aides were able to access the "secure" room VERY easily.
There is a version that Roh's wife asked if Roh wanted her to go along. She would have had to have asked this around 5:30. When she finished dressing Roh had already gone at 5:40. The question is why would someone contemplating suicide agree to his wife going along?
The Korean internet is wondering why Roh as a organ donor upon his death would want remains to be cremated. BTW the spot for his grave/tombstone appears to have been selected yesterday behind his retirement home.
As to the bodyguard's credentials, I have major questions. During the last Boneless Beef Protests when the activists were climbing over the stacked containers, I remember reading that Lee Myeong-bak was replacing the members of the Presidential Security Service enmasse to root out Roh supporters. I remember noting at the time how different this was from the US Secret Service. Lee Myeong-bak — and I assume Roh before him — had treated this as a "political appointment" job. Thus the credentials of the man become very important. Rumors are that he was appointed only weeks before. Was he a Roh or LMB appointee? Up to this point, all we know about him is that his surname is Lee.
There is much more and many expat bloggers are contributing some very astute observations — i.e., Sonagi, Garronfalloon, Gerry Bevers, etc.
However, any speculation about what is fact and what is rumor/fiction is just too early. The Korean internet is going crazy with rumors. The only thing we know now is: WE DON'T KNOW A DAMN THING.
12:55 pm on May 27th, 2009 5
I think we need to distinguish verified facts and internet rumors and consider only the former.
Roh and his wife did pledge to donate their organs during the 2002 campaign. It is not unbelievable that Roh might have forgotten about this pledge.
I have not read in any mainstream news media that Roh's wife was planning to go along.
The bodyguard's conflicting stories are suspicious. He may be lying to cover his failure to protect the former president, or he may be lying for other reasons.
The suicide note on the computer screen continues to bother me. Besides the medium, the message itself seemed trite, not coming from the heart of a man who once defended students tortured by police. I'm also a little bothered that it was released so quickly to the media.
Right now, Roh's suicide seems to me like 9/11. There was no conspiracy, but the government was not honest or transparent about some embarrassing details. At the moment, I accept Roh's death as a suicide but think that the matter has been handled badly by many involved.
11:49 pm on May 27th, 2009 6
"Roh and his wife did pledge to donate their organs during the 2002 campaign. It is not unbelievable that Roh might have forgotten about this pledge."
It wouldn't be the only campaign promise he broke. He promised to build affordable housing in Seoul and clean up politics in Korea…we all know how that turned out.
9:23 am on May 28th, 2009 7
@Kalani: Another question to ask about are these cctv tapes that were supposedly surveilling the area at the time of Roh's demise but have yet to be released to the public or any new agency. If such tapes exist, they should put the matter to rest pretty quickly.
@Sonagi: Thanks again for finally accepting the organ donation story.
One question, despite all of these outstanding questions, you have made up your mind to accept the suicide story. Why not wait until an open investigation has been carried out? Why not simply suspend judgment until that time, as many are doing. As Kalani aptly observes, as of right now, "we don't know a damn thing".
12:05 pm on May 28th, 2009 8
Based on the verified evidence publicly available, Roh's death looks like a suicide handled badly by the authorities. The case is not closed, and neither is my opinion set in stone.
6:38 am on June 1st, 2009 9
You are all fools and extreme neocons,defending LMB based on the daily newspapers blindly supporting LMB, ex-criminal chareged of more than nineteen times.
9:15 am on June 1st, 2009 10
It's Bush's fault. Kinda like the weather, and those odd socks you get in the dryer from time to time.
Bush = Lee = Chthulu's Prophet.
10:13 pm on June 1st, 2009 11