High school certificate sparks a bidding war

Ferocious competition to own a 1965 Busan high school certificate drove the price temporarily to 100 million won ($84,000) when it went on the auction block yesterday. And who was the recipient of the certificate in question? A certain Roh Moo-hyun. A 27-year-old housewife in Busan put the commercial bookkeeping certification up for auction on an Internet site. The certification dates to Mr. Roh’s days as a senior at Busan Commercial High School. The housewife, identified only as Ms. Jung, said the president and her father were classmates in high school. As the president’s family was struggling with poverty at the time, and the long distance from Mr. Roh’s house to the school made it difficult to commute, he lived with her father for a while, Ms. Jung said. Ms. Jung said her father had kept a fair amount of Mr. Roh’s belongings for years. She said most of the belongings of the president, including his high school transcript and merit certifications, were returned. She added that the commercial bookkeeping qualification certificate was left as a souvenir. The find was made by Ms. Jung’s grandmother, who was reorganizing Ms. Jung’s father’s property. When the certificate went on the block, bidding erupted and lifted the price to 100 million won ($84,000) at one point. But then the high bidder pulled out, and the final price dropped to 8.5 million won, leading Ms. Jung to withdraw the sale. Startled by the interest, Ms. Jung decided to keep the certificate as a family treasure, saying that the auction made her realize its value. “I may have sold if the price was right, but I was curious about the response, with the constitutional court’s decision on the president’s impeachment upcoming,” Ms. Jung said. by Yoon Chang-hee