An online media company revealed Monday that the eldest son of former authoritarian President Chun Doo-hwan set up a paper company in a tax haven in what appeared to be a move to stash away his father’s massive funds. The shell company, Blue Adonis Corp., was established in the British Virgin Islands in July 2004 by Chun Jae-kook, said the Korea Center for Investigative Journalism (KCIJ), the operator of Newstapa, an online site.
According to the center, the junior Chun was registered as the sole director of the ghost company and used an address in southern Seoul in the shareholder document, which was consistent with that of his publication company, Sigongsa. Blue Adonis created a corporate account with the Singapore branch of an Arab bank, fueling speculation that the account was used as the medium to conceal the fortunes the convicted former military strongman amassed during his five-year rule.
While it’s true the creation of paper companies in tax havens is not illegal, it would be reasonable to think that Chun’s company and bank account had something to do with his father’s hidden assets. First of all, the timing of the shell company creation and the subsequent operation of its corporate bank account coincided with the prosecution’s probe into his younger brother in 2004 on tax evasion charges.
Back then, the investigation fueled criticism against the former president that he concealed massive slush funds under the names of his family members while not paying fines imposed on him. This can be inferred as being true, given that all of his children are currently billionaires. The eldest son, in particular, has been suspected of expanding business operations aggressively thanks to his father’s fortune. He said he established the paper company based on advice from a bank to deal with the remains of his school and living expenses when he returned home after studying in the U.S. in 1988, but his argument sounds implausible.
The discovery of the shell company will mark an important occasion in the prosecution’s pursuit of the hidden assets of the former chief executive who was ordered in 1997 to pay 220.5 billion won in fines for creating slush funds while in office. Of that amount, the government has yet to collect 167.2 billion won.
It’s belated, but even now, Chun and his family members should make public all their concealed fortunes and seek forgiveness from the public. If not, law enforcement must cooperate fully with the tax agency to track down his slush funds thoroughly to show that justice is still alive in this country.