His supporters called him the "Golden Swallow of Democracy" (Mongolian: Ардчиллын алтан хараацай, ardchillyn altan kharaatsai).

Zorig's grandfather was Russian geographer and ethnographer A. D. Simukov who had come to Mongolia as part of an expedition headed by Pyotr Kozlov.

On 10 December 1989, a month after the fall of the Berlin Wall, Zorig led a group of 200 activists in a public protest demanding a free-market economy and free elections.

In January 1990 Zorig and his fellow Mongolian Democrat dissidents began staging weekend protests in Sükhbaatar Square, the center of Ulaanbaatar.

At one point when protesters were scuffling with soldiers and an outbreak of violence seemed likely, Zorig took a megaphone, sat atop a friend's shoulders to make himself visible to the crowd, and called for calm.

In August 1991, he was the only prominent Mongolian politician to immediately denounce the coup attempt by Soviet hardliners against Mikhail Gorbachev.

Members of the Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party walked out in protest, and, without a working majority in Parliament, Elbegdorj was forced to resign.

[15] The government crisis lingered for another two months[16] until Janlavyn Narantsatsralt, the mayor of Ulaanbaatar, was named the new prime minister in December 1998.

[17] His murder remained unsolved for 19 years until December 2016, leading to speculation that someone with insider knowledge of Zorig's impending elevation to the post of prime minister took action to prevent it.

Flowers are placed at the statue every year on the day of his death,[19] attended by his family members, friends, politicians, and other citizens.

Then deputy prime minister Tsendiin Nyamdorj, some other politicians and victim's family members questioned the decision to hold the trial behind closed doors.