_{On July 23, Rep. Roh Hoe-chan’s sudden death surprised a lot of people as it was revealed that he took his own life by jumping out of his apartment. In his apartment, a note was found saying that he received 40 million won from "Druking" as a political fund for his own party.}

_{Over 30,000 grievers attended Roh Hoe-chan’s remembrance ceremony. Many people with disabilities and underprivileged people came from various places to express their sorrow for the deceased. Roh was a democracy activist and also a labor activist. Those who supported Roh’s activities expressed condolences upon his death since during his lifetime he represented workers and the less fortunate. He lived his life honestly, advocating for the betterment of disadvantaged people and the rights of workers. He was able to represent and understand the difficulties of the workers because he also worked as a welding specialist in his early days.}

_{In his personal life, Roh was a humble man who wanted to make the world a better place. He thought that the illegal violation of the political fund was an irreversible poorly made decision. He couldn’t live with the guilt, which unfortunately drove him to suicide. He seems to have made a tragic decision because he lived a life with faith in which money and power shouldn’t be the criterion of everything making it intolerable of his one-time mistake.}

_{In all parts of society, there were numerous prerogatives of the rich unlike from those who are poor and powerless, but there weren’t those who tried to to correct them. There is no one to fight for the the poor and oppressed. Roh struggled against the powerful and pursued equality for the less fortunate. Roh’s struggle was always lonely, but he always stood on the side of the weak to protect their rights as they were deprived of the privileges of the strong.}

_{Roh’s efforts for the weak can be found in his book 'The country we dream of'. In this book, he says, “How many things can a man pursue in his life? It is difficult to achieve a single one. As I decided in my school days, I am eager to keep a promise that I made to myself that I will devote my life for the weak and the poor and this society.”. He said it is our lifelong assignment to turn inequalities to equality, unfairness to fairness, and the threat of war to the settlement of peace. He believed that an ideal society is when a man is punished if he has done something wrong, and recognized when he has developed his abilities. He argued that unfair illegal-recruitment and the inequalities of regular and non-regular workers should be rectified in the right way. He also argued for equal pay and benefits for both full-time and part-time workers.” He thought democracy would be fully realized when society gives everyone a fair chance.}

_{In 2004, Roh was elected as the 17th member of the National Assembly, and he proposed 127 bills during his 25 years of political life. Most of the bills he proposed were for the improvement of the lives of the weak. Some of his proposed bills are still under review by the National Assembly.}

_{The privileged are using a variety of methods for their benefit. However, society is not paying much attention to the underprivileged. We should pay attention to what’s happening publicly to make our country fair and continue Roh’s devotion to solving the problems in our society.”}

▲ Roh was a democracy and labor activist to correct the problems in our society.

By Jeong Seung-In, reporter  samcandothat@naver.com

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