Ro Jai-bong (February 8, 1936 – April 23, 2024) was a South Korean politician who served as the

prime minister of South Korea The prime minister of the Republic of Korea () is the deputy head of government and the second highest political office of South Korea. The prime minister is appointed by the president of the Republic of Korea, with the National Assembly's appro ...

from December 1990 to May 1991.

Biography

Ro was born in

Changwon Changwon (; ) is the capital and largest city of South Gyeongsang Province, South Korea (with a population of 1,025,702 ), and the 11th largest city of the South Korea, country. A port city, Changwon is bordered by Masan Bay to the south, and the ...

Korea, Empire of Japan From 1910 to 1945, Korea was ruled by the Empire of Japan under the name Chōsen (), the Japanese reading of "Joseon". Japan first took Korea into its sphere of influence during the late 1800s. Both Korea (Joseon) and Japan had been under polic ...

on February 8, 1936. Ro graduated from

Seoul National University Seoul National University (SNU; ) is a public university, public research university in Seoul, South Korea. It is one of the SKY (universities), SKY universities and a part of the Flagship Korean National Universities. The university's main c ...

and received a doctorate in political science from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

. He then worked as an international political scientist before joining government as chief of staff for President

Roh Tae-woo Roh Tae-woo (, ; 4 December 1932 – 26 October 2021) was a South Korean army general and politician who served as the sixth president of South Korea from 1988 to 1993. In 1987, he became the first president to be directly elected under the cur ...

in 1990 and became prime minister shortly afterwards. In 1992, he was elected to the National Assembly of Korea. After his political career, Ro became president of Seoul Digital University from 2002 to 2005. Ro was married and had two children. He was diagnosed with blood cancer in 2023 and died from complications of the disease at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital on April 23, 2024, at the age of 88.Ex-PM Ro Jai-bong dies at 88
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References

1936 births 2024 deaths People from Changwon Politicians from South Gyeongsang Province Prime ministers of South Korea New York University alumni Seoul National University alumni Brigham Young University alumni Academic staff of Seoul National University Chiefs of staff to the president of South Korea Deaths from blood cancer Deaths from cancer in South Korea {{SouthKorea-politician-stub