He was born in 1946 to a farming couple in the rural town of Gimhae. In the book "A Collection of Presidential Leadership," which includes a chapter on Roh, author Choi Jin wrote that Roh's impoverished childhood shaped his policies as president, such as his drive to raise taxes on the upper middle class.
"His childhood is full of a sense of inferiority and anger and resistance," Choi wrote. "His mother was full of rancor for being left out [of society] in a mountain village."
Choi asserted that Roh's upbringing left him questioning the limits of government authority. Roh preferred group decision-making, a habit of delegating authority that may have helped doom him in the end, critics say.
As a young man, he chose a legal education and later became a human rights lawyer and judge. He eventually entered politics with a strong drive to end regionalism in South Korea.
Roh was unexpectedly elected president in 2002, prevailing by a 2-percentage-point margin. He won office on a vow to stem the runaway rise in real estate prices, clean up politics and wrest the Blue House, the presidential mansion, from the grip of leaders who represented the interests of big business.
Yet his presidency was marred by missteps. His campaigns to raise taxes and move the capital out of Seoul failed. Critics say Roh coddled North Korea, and he barely survived a campaign to drive him from office on grounds of incompetence.
Still, his administration opened the door for more news media freedom, experts say.
"He was the first president to allow himself to be mocked. On several occasions he was a figure of fun all around," said Brian Myers, a political scientist at Dongseo University in Busan.
"You look at current President Lee Myung-bak's efforts as he desperately tries to get control over the press and the Internet, and you appreciate the difference."
Roh left the presidency in February 2008. Just 14 months later, he was back in the public eye. Authorities alleged that his wife and son had accepted $6 million in bribes from a shoe tycoon in exchange for preferential treatment on various business projects.
Disgraced, Roh denied the allegations. Yet, in the final weeks of his life, the weight of public scrutiny became heavy. In an embarrassing public rebuke last month, he was summoned back to Seoul from retirement for an interrogation by investigators.
