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Person1946 – 2009

Roh Moo-hyun

16th President (2003–2008). Held the second inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang in 2007 and issued the October 4 Declaration

A former human rights lawyer, he rose to prominence at the 1988 National Assembly hearings on the Fifth Republic. Elected president in 2002 as the Millennium Democratic Party candidate, he launched the 'Participatory Government'. The National Assembly impeached him in 2004, but the Constitutional Court rejected the motion. He pushed the Multifunctional Administrative City (Sejong), and the Civil Act was amended in 2005 to abolish the hoju system. The Kaesong Industrial Complex began operating, and in 2007 negotiations on the Korea–US FTA were concluded. In 2007 he walked across the Military Demarcation Line to visit Pyongyang and issued the October 4 Inter-Korean Summit Declaration.

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4 related events

  1. 1
    2003 – 2016Kaesong Industrial Complexrelated figure

    After the June 15 Declaration, an industrial zone combining southern capital and technology with northern land and labour was built at Kaesong.

  2. 2
    2005 – 2008Abolition of the Hoju Systemrelated figure

    Following a Constitutional Court ruling, the Civil Act was amended to abolish the family-head (hoju) system, replaced from 2008 by family relation registers.

  3. 3
    2007 – 2012Korea–US Free Trade Agreement (FTA)leader

    The Roh Moo-hyun government concluded a free trade agreement with the United States, which took effect in 2012 after renegotiation and ratification.

  4. 4
    2007October 4 Inter-Korean Summit Declarationleader

    President Roh Moo-hyun and Chairman Kim Jong Il held the second inter-Korean summit in Pyongyang and issued a declaration on inter-Korean development and peace and prosperity.

Related works

Dramatized works (films, dramas, novels) may differ from the historical record.

People who appear alongside

  • Park Geun-hye1952

    18th President (2013–2017), removed from office by the Constitutional Court’s impeachment ruling in March 2017

  • Lee Myung-bak1941

    17th President (2008–2013)

  • Kim Jong Il1941 – 2011

    Son of Kim Il Sung and leader of North Korea (1994–2011). Named successor in 1980; ruled as chairman of the National Defence Commission under "military-first" politics. North Korea gives his birth year as 1942

Themes this person appears in

  • Changing Unification Policies1948 – 2018

    From “march north” to the Panmunjom Declaration — inter-Korean relations from confrontation to dialogue, through joint statements and agreements to summits (up to 2018)

  • Pyongyang194 BC – 2007

    From Wanggeom-seong of Gojoseon to the inter-Korean summits — capital of Goguryeo, Western Capital of Goryeo, the great city on the Taedong

  • GaeseongAD 901 – 2003

    From Wang Geon, lord of Songak, to the Kaesong Industrial Complex — Gaegyeong, Goryeo’s capital for five centuries, and home of the Song merchants