Korean Job Discussion Forums

[oldfatfarang]

Where's all the posts about Korea's Ex President's suicide?
Anyone have any experience about this situation and/or Korea's mourning period?

I went shopping yesterday and Lotte Dept. store was closed (no signs - nothing). I suppose they were given time off for .mourning'.

And, my demonstration lesson today was 'postponed' - I tried to discuss why with my co-teachers - but they just said: "Some teachers 'hurt their backs in Friday's sports day." Hmmmmm.


Any info appreciated.

[Underwaterbob]

http://forums.eslcafe.com/korea/viewtopic.php?t=156111

It was a hot topic for a day and a half. Seems no one much cares anymore.

[eIn07912]

i dont even think there is a proper mourning period.

aside from every taxi radio and resteraunt tv being turned on the news all day saturday and sunday, u never would have guessed anything happened. the seoul i see is moving right along like every other normal day. perhaps some actually did hurt their backs. or that group of people took in more personally than others.

ive found there r 3 basic reactions:

-"he was crazy. im not glad he's dead. but im not really sad about it either"

-"he was so great, so kind, so wonderful. 2MB is a murderer! down with the system as we know it!"

-"who? oh yeah, the expresident. yeah i heard that..... did u talk to that girl again friday?"

[Bramble]

^ No one I've talked to has said anything like that. My co-worker said she wasn't a Roh supporter, but she thought the charges against him were overstated and that his death was really sad.

There were memorials going on at Seoul City Hall and Anyang City Hall the last time I was there.

[Maneki Neko]

[Robot_Teacher]

I see it as highly irresponsible for an executive to comitt suicide for his corruptions being revealed. Since it's taken very seriously to lose face like this, maybe these big wigs should reconsider their dealings in accepting bribes and other scandalous dealings.

I feel bad for Korea, but don't feel bad for the man who jumped. He only escaped responsibility in the most sorry arse way only to leave the Korean people deeply saddened. This is called, "going out bad."

[skeeterses]

I'm curious to see why the ex-President was so "ashamed" that he would jump off a cliff. Other than possibly getting sent to a country club jail for 6 months like other corrupt politicians and CEOs, its not like Roh was caught smoking meth with a male prostitute or molesting altar boys.

[CeleryMan]

This dude ends his life over $6.4M?

[Captain Corea]

Noh pointed fingers at others and helped push people to suicide... now he had that come back to him.

[RACETRAITOR]

[DeLaRed]

[Smee]

I don't have polling data handy, but Roh is being mourned here. Maybe it's because Jeollanam-do hates LMB with a passion, but many teachers had black yesterday, and the makeshift memorial outside one of Suncheon's old department stores was fairly active. There are memorials in nearly all the counties and cities.

I don't follow politics to care either way about the guy. The news was shocking, but not surprising, if that makes sense. When I first read the news in my reader I assumed some blogger prone to overstatement was making a joke based on the high suicide rate here and Roh's troubles. I don't like seeing anyone go out like that. However, his bad points aside, he did represent, as a lawyer and an upstart politician, something good for a long time.

A lot of people here are viewing this as kind of a martyrdom, and I suspect---given how prone people are to historical revisionism---he will emerge as a tragic hero, a dirty poltiician who followed dirtier ones, and who was taken down by those dirtier still.

[Ya-ta Boy]

My school's field trip scheduled for tomorrow afternoon has been cancelled because of the mourning period. The official announcement said students (all army officers) weren't supposed to do anything fun. They've been given the afternoon off instead.

My co-worker has a theory that the Norks were behind the death. Subtheory 1: the aide is a Nork agent and gave the push to destabilize the government knowing people would be even more angry at LMB. Subtheory 2: Roh himself was a Nork agent and got the order to off himself. It was all to set the stage for the nuke test yesterday morning.

That's what she says.

[Xuanzang]

[Ruthdes]