SEOUL—The front-runner to succeed South Korea’s impeached president Park Geun-Hye after her dismissal over a corruption scandal is a former special forces soldier, pro-democracy activist and human rights lawyer. Even so, Roh invariably polls as South Korea’s most beloved ex-president, with other former heads of state generally considered much more corrupt. READ: Court unanimously ousts South Korea’s leader for corruptionBut the analyst sounded a warning: “He lacks political acumen,” he said. His close friendship with future president Roh began in 1982 when they opened a law firm in Busan focusing on human and civil rights issues. Both became leading figures in the pro-democracy protests that swept the country in 1987 and led to South Korea’s first direct presidential elections the same year.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer March 11, 2017 02:48 UTC