Prosecutors are reportedly considering summoning Police Commissioner General Cho Hyun-oh in a libel investigation over remarks he made that indicated the late former President Roh Moo-hyun amassed slush funds.

The investigation prompted by complaints by Roh’s family is expected to shed new light on the bribery scandal involving Roh. He killed himself on May 23, 2009, as the prosecution tightened its examination into the allegations of illegal funds. The investigators closed the case after his death.

Cho alluded to Roh’s irregularities at a meeting of high ranking police officials at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency in 2010, when he served as the regional chief.

He reportedly said, “Why did Roh kill himself? Just a day before his death, we found his slush fund kept under a borrowed-name account.”

The bereaved family members sued him but the prosecution has been reluctant to delve into the case, claiming that it has been already closed due to Roh’s death.

But the case reemerged as Cho once again raised el Roh’s alleged irregularities with a vernacular magazine.

In his interview in the Weekly Dong-a May 1st edition, Cho said, “The comments I made about Roh were inappropriate … but unless the family withdraws the suit, I will say what I have to say. It is for the honor of the police.”

Noh’s family requested on Saturday that the prosecution resume the investigation.

“Cho has threatened Roh’s family to drop the case. He has also tarnished the deceased person’s dignity once again. The investigators should arrest Cho,” the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation stated in a press release.

Cho recently offered to resign from his post after demands he take responsibility for sloppy police work during the response to a emergency call in the Suwon rape and murder case at the beginning of April.

His term will end next Monday.

By Bae Ji-sook (baejisook@heraldcorp.com)