Portrait of ex-President Roh Moo-hyun by ex-U.S. President George W. Bush gets first public showing

A portrait of late former President Roh Moo-hyun, painted by former U.S. President George W. Bush, has been unveiled to the public for the first time at a special exhibition, organizers said Tuesday.

The portrait was personally painted by Bush during his attendance at a memorial service for Roh in 2019 and presented to his bereaved family.

It was featured at the special exhibition “Hello, I'm Roh Moo-hyun,” which opened at the Awakened Citizens Cultural Experience Exhibition Hall in Gimhae, 310 kilometers (192.5 miles) southeast of Seoul, on May 15 to commemorate the 17th anniversary of his death and the 80th anniversary of his birth.

The exhibition will continue through Sept. 27 at the hall, which was built in 2022 in Gimhae's Bongha Village, where Roh lived after his retirement in 2008, to commemorate his life and philosophy.

The exhibition was divided into three sections and structured as an interview in which the former president reflects on his life.

Besides the portrait, about 100 items are on display, including his business card and autobiography, materials related to the 1979 Busan-Masan pro-democracy protests and “Hope Piggy Banks,” a landmark grassroots fund-raising campaign during his 2002 presidential election.

Yonhap