By Chung Sik Yu

(Caijing.com.cn) The dramatic and unexpected death of South Korea's former president Roh Moo-hyun on May 23 shocked all Koreans.

Now, the former president's suicide – an unparalleled event in national and global political history – has turned curious eyes toward the nation's political environment and left many wondering, "Why?"

Before leaving office just 13 months before his death, Roh had served as a corruption-fighter and symbol of a movement to clean up politics. So, in light of a tenure marked by consistent battles against authoritarianism and corruption, combined with a pursuit of fairness at all institutional levels, a recent investigation by the Korean prosecutor's office into bribery charges against the ex-president's wife was seen as a tarnishing of Roh's anti-graft image.

Koreans are now offering three possible explanations for why he had no choice but suicide. First, some say, although he committed the act by leaping from a cliff in his hometown, what really drove him to death was current President Lee Myung-bak, the prosecutor's office, and the ruling Grand National Party, which returned to power in 2008 after a 10-year hiatus.

Last year, Bak's conservative regime saw nationwide civil strife stirred by a presidential policy -- implemented without fully consulting the Korean people -- to import beef from the United States. Some feared the beef may have been infected by mad cow disease. Since that crisis, the president and ruling party have been seriously concerned about a possible loss of power.

The late leader Roh and his supporters, from the angle of the current administration, could have posed a potential and forceful political threat by offering an alternative to voters.

The administration started casting doubt on the feasibility of Roh's possible return to politics by launching investigations targeting the ex-president, his family and supporters. A tough probe by the prosecutor's office spanned more than 10 months. Investigators searched thoroughly for any possible crimes before taking some of Roh's associates into custody. The former president never faced a bribery charge but felt his political image was the ultimate target of the current administration. This is why many Koreans claim the late president's death was not suicide but actually a politically planned murder. Now, as Koreans mourn, their feelings are mixed with sadness and wrath.

A second possible explanation is psychological. It's been widely said that the prosecutor's intense investigation, despite its honorable treatment of the former president, drove Roh to this extreme act. In addition, it was hard for Roh to cope with the fact that friends, supporters and even family members were targets of an in-depth probe. More than anything else, his lifelong political foundation – fighting corruption and encouraging popular, knowledge-based politics – had been severely damaged under the current administration. It's presumed he felt seriously sorry for family members, friends and supporters, and that he was troubled by stress and mental instability.

A third explanation is that the late former president's choice should not be interpreted as suicide but self-sacrifice. That is to say, he made a pro-active decision to leave this world. Looking back on his political life, whenever he faced a personal and critical political crisis, such as an impeachment effort, Roh did not hesitate to react by risking his political destiny. From that point of view, it is likely he wanted to shoulder all responsibility in resisting the baseless political attacks against him.

Roh was an activist for democracy who served as a politician during a period when an authoritarian regime was in power in Korea. Above all, he was known as a values-oriented politician who sought to build a world based on the principles of respect and legal order. A line in one of his speeches could have been a motto for his life: "I want to prove that we can build successful lives without compromising with injustice."

In the near future, Korean politics again will be drawn into a vortex. The current administration is repeatedly being barraged by questions over its moral legitimacy. It's having trouble overcoming economic hardships, even though Bak successfully rose to power with a promise of economic recovery.

Koreans are starting to doubt whether the current regime has the ability to revive the economy. Meanwhile, they are reflecting on the former president's tragic death, as well as his virtues.

Chung Sik Yu is a political scientist based in South Korea