South Korean leader tries to finally make his mark

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun began talks in Pyongyang on Wednesday in what is only the second summit meeting between the leaders of the rival Koreas, hoping finally to stamp his mark on a largely unpopular presidency.

In some ways, he is the polar opposite of Kim Jong-il, the North Korean leader who gave him a cool welcome when they met on Tuesday. Roh had earlier crossed the heavily fortified border and driven to Pyongyang -- the first South Korean leader to do so.

While Kim was born into privilege as the son of the communist North's founding leader, the 61-year-old Roh's humble farming background meant he had to take on low-paying jobs to fund his education.

Roh's stress as president on what he calls participatory government in a country that has known only a few years of democratically elected leaders is in sharp contrast to Kim's autocratic style of rule.

And while Kim is constantly glorified in the North Korean media in the personality cult he inherited from his father, the left-leaning Roh faces daily attacks in the South's conservative-dominated press.

Born in a small village near to the southern port city of Busan, Roh seems to have been eager to express his views from an early age. He did once tell reporters that he did occasionally regret some of his straight-talking.

A note from his first-grade teacher said: "Talents in all subjects, especially presentation of his opinions."

In 1960, he led a boycott against mandatory essays praising South Korea's first autocratic president. In 1987 he went to jail for three weeks for supporting an illegal strike.

When he was almost 30, Roh finally passed his bar examinations and in 1981 began a career as a human rights lawyer.

A few years later, he moved into mainstream politics and, although he failed in several attempts to win office, he helped lead the successful presidential campaign of long-time pro-democracy activist Kim Dae-jung.

In 2002, Roh surprised most of the electorate by winning the presidency himself. But barely had he taken office than he faced impeachment by the conservative opposition.

That attempt failed but, as his five-year term progressed, Roh has seen his popularity plunge, his policies repeatedly attacked by a resurgent political right wing and a hostile press. His popularity rating has consistently held below 30 percent, sometimes well below.

Even when he announced the summit with North Korea -- just six months before his term ends -- he was widely accused of using the meeting to play domestic politics and give the sagging left-wing a boost ahead of the presidential election in December which the conservative candidate is expected to win.

Roh has argued that the summit is a chance to calm the tension that has dominated the divided peninsula for more than half a century, not to mark any historic turning point.

"I'm not going to get unreasonably ambitious at the meeting," he said after the summit was announced.