As prosecutors launch their first compulsory investigation into the 30 billion won Roh Tae-woo slush fund, which emerged as a key issue in the divorce battle between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Roh So-young, attention is focused on whether the funds can be recovered.

According to the legal community today (August 21), the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Department of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors Office (led by Senior Prosecutor So Jeong-su) is conducting searches and seizures at locations including the private residence in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, where spouse Kim Ok-suk stays, in connection with violations of the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Concealment of Proceeds from Crime and tax evasion charges involving the former president's family.

Prosecutors also captured signs that funds flowed into the East Asia Cultural Center and the "Roh Tae-woo Center for the Era of Ordinary People," where the former president's son, Roh Jae-heon, who serves as the South Korean Ambassador to China, acts as chairman and executive director respectively, including them in the search and seizure targets.

They are also attempting to secure relevant materials by searching the homes of former secretaries who were pointed out as having provided under-the-table name accounts to the former president's family.

This search and seizure marks the first compulsory investigation conducted after the May 18 Memorial Foundation and other groups filed complaints with prosecutors in 2024 against the former president's family and Chairman Chey Tae-won on charges of concealing criminal proceeds and tax evasion.

Prosecutors have previously requested Kim Ok-suk's side to account for the fund flows and secured financial account materials of the former president's family to trace the movement of the money.

Prosecutors are expected to focus on securing evidence to clearly clarify whether the 30 billion won slush fund of former President Roh was a bribe, while concentrating on proving evidence of criminal proceeds concealment whose statute of limitations has not yet expired.

With both the parties involved—former President Roh and former SK Chairman Choi Jong-hyun—having passed away, and with materials prior to the implementation of the Real Name Financial Transactions Act in 1993 needing to be examined, evaluations suggest there are numerous hurdles to overcome to uncover the truth.

In the case of Kim Ok-suk, she is reportedly experiencing difficulties in fact-checking due to her advanced age of 91.

Her son, Jae-heon, also took office as the Lee Jae-myung administration's first South Korean Ambassador to China last October and is currently residing in China.

Since the statute of limitations for the crime of concealing criminal proceeds is seven years, acts of concealment must be verified up to recent times.

This means grasping the overall fund flow from the delivery of the slush fund in 1991 to the present to verify the process of slush fund concealment and succession.

Beyond the concealment process, investigators must also reveal whether former President Roh actually delivered the slush fund to Chairman Choi Jong-hyun and whether the funds in question indeed constitute criminal proceeds.

The previous day, the National Assembly plenary session passed an amendment to the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Concealment of Proceeds from Crime introducing the independent confiscation system to allow the confiscation of illicit assets even if the parties involved have passed away, establishing a legal basis for recovering the slush fund to the state treasury.

The bill will take effect one year after its promulgation.

Notably, the bill specifies crimes undermining the constitutional order such as insurrection and bribery, embezzlement, and breach of trust utilizing job positions acquired based thereon as targets for confiscation, squarely targeting the family of former President Roh.

The Roh Tae-woo slush fund first came to light during the divorce proceedings between Chairman Chey and Director Roh.

During the appellate trial of the divorce suit in 2023, Director Roh's side submitted as evidence a 1991 promissory note under the name of Sunkyong Construction (predecessor of SK ecoplant) kept by her mother, Kim Ok-suk, along with a memo reading "Sunkyong 30 billion."

Director Roh's side argued that instead of former President Roh handing over 30 billion won in slush funds in 1991, former Chairman Choi delivered a promissory note under Sunkyong Construction's name as collateral, and that this money was used for the acquisition of Pacific Securities or the management activities of the Sunkyong (SK) Group.

The intention was to have former President Roh's slush fund recognized as Director Roh's contribution to the formation of SK Group's assets.

In contrast, Chairman Chey's side countered that it was merely a promise to provide living expenses upon request after former President Roh left office, and that no slush fund had ever been received.

The second-instance court acknowledged that the 30 billion won slush fund flowed into SK Group, ruling that Chairman Chey should pay 1.3808 trillion won to Director Roh in property division.

The Supreme Court only went as far as stating that the slush fund "appears to be a bribe," without ruling on the actual existence of the slush fund itself.

It held that even if the slush fund was delivered to Chairman Chey's side, it constituted illegal funds and therefore could not be subject to property division.

Last month, the remand trial also excluded the 30 billion won Roh Tae-woo slush fund from Director Roh's contribution share, in accordance with the Supreme Court's ruling.

The Supreme Court stated, "Even if it is assumed, as recognized by the original trial court, that the defendant's father Roh Tae-woo provided about 30 billion won in funds to the plaintiff's father Choi Jong-hyun, the source of this money appears to be bribes received by Roh Tae-woo while he was in office as president."

It further added, "It runs counter to good morals and other social order, and its anti-social, anti-ethical, and anti-moral nature is so pronounced that it lies outside the protection of the law," and stated, "It is not worthy of protection in any form, including contribution to property division upon divorce."

Previously, the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office investigated former Chairman Choi in 1995 regarding suspicions surrounding Pacific Securities' slush fund, but failed to link the source of funds to former President Roh's slush fund, and it was not included in the 262.8 billion won in penalty fines.
 

(Photo: Yonhap News)