On the morning of May 23, while the bribery case was still under investigation, former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun suddenly died by jumping off a cliff during his morning exercise. This act not only shocked the South Korean citizens but also startled the world. On the morning of the 24th, the Gyeongsangnam-do Police Department held a press conference to make an initial determination regarding the cause of death of former President Roh Moo-hyun, confirming that Roh indeed jumped off the cliff himself and that there were no signs of forgery in the will he left behind.
Roh Moo-hyun's suicide was due to the dual pressures of moral questioning and legal pursuit. The long-term goal Roh pursued was integrity, but many of his subordinates and family members had already been implicated in corruption cases. This was a great irony for him and also the most direct reason for his suicide. He chose this "tragic" method of death, essentially to prove his innocence. Roh Moo-hyun can be considered a victim of the corrupt cycle in South Korea's political arena. His death highlighted the chronic problem of collusion between government and business in South Korea, reflecting the ecological conservation and systemic limitations of today's South Korean politics. Since the political democratization of South Korea in 1987, all four elected presidents after leaving office have been embroiled in various corruption scandals.