Martial law was declared.
I held the cheering stick.
Impeached.
Now is the time to speak to the President!

On December 3, 2024, President Yoon Seok-yeol declared martial law.
On December 14, the National Assembly voted to impeach President Yoon Seok-yeol, suspending him from his duties as president.
The Constitutional Court began its impeachment trial and unanimously voted to remove President Yoon Seok-yeol from office on April 4, 2025.
And the people elected Lee Jae-myung as president on June 3, 2025.
Going through the breathless political process, I think again about the president.
What kind of person should a president be? I asked authors of presidential autobiographies and biographies and compiled their answers into a book.

Looking back on the five years of President Roh Moo-hyun's presidency, there were many things that went wrong, but the biggest one was the disconnect between the president and the people.
How did this discrepancy manifest itself? While in office, his approval ratings for his performance were extremely low. After leaving office, his popularity skyrocketed, and upon his death, he became the nation's most beloved president.
When President Roh Moo-hyun was in Bongha Village, he came out to greet tourists who were flocking there and said this.
“When I was working, I said I couldn’t do it, I couldn’t do it, I didn’t like it, I didn’t like it, but now that I’ve quit and come out to play, I say I like it.” It was a joke, but a sincere comment, expressing your thoughts on the misalignment between the people and the president.
Yes, that's right.
The people and the president are greatly at odds.
I believe that only when all of that falls into place will President Roh Moo-hyun find his proper place as a historical figure.

--- From “Chapter 1: Speaking of President Roh Moo-hyun”

I believe that, despite many twists and turns, Korean society has managed to heal the discord between the president and the people that arose during the Roh Moo-hyun presidency.
We can't view all of history this way, but at least President Roh Moo-hyun needs to be interpreted this way to understand the phenomenon of his continued rise in popularity among the public. That's why I'm telling you this.
This is a separate issue from the grief we felt over the President's passing.
President Roh spoke about some really important issues facing our society.
Although I didn't solve it, I was able to clearly state my thoughts on what the problem was and what principles should be applied when solving it.
Although a lot of time has passed, the awareness of the problem and the principles for solving it have not faded.
It's still worth listening to.
My interpretation is that the popularity continues to rise because the public thinks that way.

--- From “Chapter 1: Speaking of President Roh Moo-hyun”

I really liked the book.
Let me tell you an anecdote. After the Uri Party won 151 seats in the April 15, 2004 general election, they invited the elected officials to the Blue House guest house for dinner.
At the end, they gave us each a paper shopping bag.
I was hoping that everyone would have a Nonghyup gift certificate, but I couldn't open it there, so I just took it and left.
The President read a lot of books while suspended from office due to impeachment, and among them was Jeremy Rifkin's The End of Work.
I thought it contained a very important agenda, so as a member of the 17th National Assembly, I asked him to read this book and think about the problems in our labor market.
Many members of the National Assembly came out and said this jokingly.
"You don't even have a Nonghyup gift certificate!" You didn't even buy seolleongtang (Korean traditional soup) during your candidacy. Would you give us a Nonghyup gift certificate? That's how much you loved books.
If you hadn't left like that, I think there's a good chance you'd be doing something related to books.
If you had a YouTube channel, wouldn't you have 5 million subscribers?
--- From “Chapter 1: Speaking of President Roh Moo-hyun”

When talking about President Park Chung-hee, many people say, “The Yushin regime is a dictatorship. This is absolutely unacceptable.”
Politically speaking, you might be able to argue that, but then, if the Yushin regime hadn't existed, would the construction of the heavy chemical industry have been successful? I don't think it would have been successful.
That's the level of sacrifice, the minimum sacrifice.
Isn't what we gained in exchange for minimal sacrifice the greatest achievement? What else do we have now, apart from our automobile industry, our semiconductors, our steel, our petrochemicals, and our precision machinery?
--- From “Chapter 2: Speaking of President Park Chung-hee”

“I ask questions based on what if.
“If the October 26 assassination had not occurred, I wonder whether President Park Chung-hee would have peacefully handed over power or whether he would have held on to power until the end.” That’s a very good question.
I think it would have been very difficult for President Park Chung-hee to hand over power on his own.
When I retired, I wanted to live like a principal.
But, due to the nature of power, that is not the case.
When it comes to power, it's rare for the person who receives it to serve the person who gave it to them well.
So, did President Park Chung-hee's death on October 26th help the development of Korean history? I think it did.

--- From “Chapter 2: Speaking of President Park Chung-hee”

He was always humorous and valued women much more than men.
At that time, the word "feminism" didn't exist, but you showed a lot of feminist aspects.
After he passed away, a media outlet asked me to write a manuscript, so I wrote the title, “A Rarely Bisexual Person.”

--- From "Chapter 3: Speaking of President Kim Dae-jung"

If you look at the postcards he wrote from prison, you can see his infinitely delicate, kind, warm, and gentle nature.
At that time, the prison allowed us to write sealed letters once a month.
I found out later that I had written 80 pages of manuscript paper as a letter from prison.
When I look at the very small letters, it looks like I'm looking at an embroidery hoop.
How can such strong convictions, such subtle nuances, such kindness, such warmth, all be so harmoniously combined within one person? This is what I find myself thinking.
--- From "Chapter 3: Speaking of President Kim Dae-jung"

We experienced the IMF economic crisis in November 1997.
During the IMF crisis, the non-performing loans of large corporations that caused a chain of bankruptcies amounted to 112 trillion won, equivalent to 28% of GDP.
Public funds were invested here.
Ultimately, the economic crisis was overcome in 2001, three years earlier than the IMF's prediction of 2004.
It's a great achievement.
In some ways, it can be said that they implemented an economic policy that was more rapid and efficient than the Sunshine Policy.

--- From "Chapter 3: Speaking of President Kim Dae-jung"

Kim Young-sam, who achieved democratization through compressed growth, embarked on military reform.
The military dictatorship was liquidated by disbanding the Hanahoe and then creating a new law to criminally punish the December 12 coup of Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo.
It was something I risked my life for.
This was possible because the people gave overwhelming support, and also because of President Kim Young-sam's courage and strong driving force.

--- From “Chapter 4: Speaking of President Kim Young-sam”

The real-name financial transaction system ultimately achieved economic justice.
With corruption largely eliminated, Korean society as a whole has become incredibly transparent.
It is being evaluated as a success.
Even the Blue House economic chief didn't know that President Kim Young-sam was going to implement a real-name financial transaction system.
He even left an episode where he was caught by the prosecution for hiding money because he didn't even tell his son, and he ended up being indicted.
His son, Kim Hyun-chul, buried 5 billion won of the remaining money from the presidential election expenses in the budget of the Agency for National Security Planning, but failed to change it to his real name, and it was caught five years later during the Hanbo incident.

--- From “Chapter 4: Speaking of President Kim Young-sam”

We also surveyed 'favorite presidents'.
In the first survey in 2004, 48% of people liked President Park Chung-hee, ranking first.
At the time, incumbent President Roh Moo-hyun was in third place with 7%.
There were about seven times more people who liked President Park Chung-hee than those who liked President Roh Moo-hyun.
A second survey was conducted in 2014, ten years later.
On April 16th of that year, the Sewol ferry sank.
The ranking of Koreans' favorite presidents also changes dramatically.
Those who like President Roh Moo-hyun rise to first place with 32%, beating out those who like President Park Chung-hee with 28%.
In 2019, following 2014, the percentage of people who like President Roh Moo-hyun remained unchanged at 32%.
Those who like President Park Chung-hee fall again to 23%.

--- From “Chapter 5: Speaking of the President of the Republic of Korea”