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| Chun Doo-hwan | Roh Tae-woo |
Chun, Roh haven't paid enormous fines for 26 years
By Kang Seung-woo
Are they crooks? The late U.S. President Richard Nixon denied being one in his 1973 press conference but had to resign a year later as a result of the Watergate scandal.
By this standard, the answer is obvious when the question is asked about two of Korea's former presidents, Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo.
They both conspired as Army generals to grab power through coups in 1979.
The two are back in the news over enormous fines they have refused to pay for 26 years.
Chun has 167.3 billion won in outstanding fines for wealth he accumulated by various illegal means, while Roh has 23 billion won left.
Roh, now in frail health, is witnessing a family feud.
Regarding Chun, an opposition lawmaker made a fresh allegation that his slush fund amounts to 922 billion won.
Roh's wife, Kim Ok-sook, filed a petition asking Prosecutor General Chae Dong-wook to retrieve Roh's assets under borrowed names allegedly owned by his younger brother Roh Jae-woo and former daughter-in-law's father Shin Myong-soo, reports have it.
But his brother struck back, claiming that the former president has more hidden slush funds.
"Roh's condition has worsened since 2007, so we have tried to clear the outstanding fine. But after failed trials against Roh and Shin, aimed at taking back secret funds he acquired during his terms, we could not afford to do so," Kim said in the petition. "I am asking the prosecution to collect the assets in order to pay the fine in full."
Roh, 80, the nation's 13th president who served from 1988 to 1993, was sentenced to 17 years in prison and slapped with a 262.8 billion won fine in 1997 on charges of treason, mutiny and corruption, with 23 billion won remaining unpaid.
Roh Soh-yeong, his daughter and director of Art Center Nabi, backed her mother, saying that it is equally necessary for prosecutors to probe the case.
The petition comes days after the prosecution launched investigations into whether the former President has more than 3 billion won under borrowed names.
According to the National Tax Service (NTS), last year's tax audit of Aurora CS, a company owned by Roh's brother, revealed that the former President's chauffer has more than 3 billion won in nine accounts at five different banks.
The prosecution suspects the large sums of money in question belongs to Roh, given that the chauffer's annual income was only about 40 million won.
Roh's brother said through his associates that the former President purchased a separate building of his house in Yeonhee-dong, Seoul and an apartment in Daegu with his slush funds and transferred the ownership to his son Jae-hyun for free.
The two houses are valued at around 3 billion won.
Meanwhile, the statute of limitations for Chun's fine expires in October.
A recent revelation has it that Chun's first son, Jae-kook, operated a paper company in a tax haven, which authorities believe was used for money-laundering and tax-dodging purposes.
Chun is ridiculed for refusing to pay the fines saying that his entire asset amounts to 290,000 won, although he and his family are living in luxury.
The Chun side claims that they are paid by their associates.
Now, the prosecution and tax authorities are pledging to uncover their hidden assets and have the fines paid.
Chun was given a death sentence and Roh a 12-year prison term for their convictions on charges of sedition through a coup that included a brutal crackdown on civilians during the Gwangju Democratic Movement.
Chun was elected through the so-called "gymnasium election" in which handpicked representatives gave their rubberstamp approval. Roh succeeded Chun through a popular vote.
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