Roh Moo-hyun (Korean pronunciation: ) (6 August 1946 – 23 May 2009) was the 16th President of South Korea (2003–2008). Before entering politics, he was a human rights lawyer.

Roh's pre-presidential political career focused on human rights advocacy for student activists in South Korea. His electoral career later expanded to a focus on overcoming regionalism in South Korean politics, culminating in his election to the presidency. The election was strongly influenced by activists on the Internet, and particularly via OhmyNews—the first time this had ever happened in Korea.

Roh's election was notable for the arrival to power of a new generation in Korean politics, the so-called 386 Generation, (i.e. people in their thirties when the word was coined, who had attended university in the 1980s, and who were born in the 1960s). This generation had been veterans of student protests against authoritarian rule, and advocated an assertively nationalist line towards the United States and Japan, and a conciliatory approach towards North Korea. They took up many positions on Roh's staff.