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[Editorial] Roh to pay up fines

Chun’s greed has put family in jeopardy

By Korea Herald

Published : Aug. 25, 2013 - 20:22

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Former President Roh Tae-woo, setting himself apart from his immediate predecessor, Chun Doo-hwan, is reportedly planning to pay his fines next month. Chun, who has claimed that he has no money to pay his remaining fines, is being investigated by the prosecution, together with his children and relatives.

Roh, who has recently agreed to take 15 billion won from his brother and another 8 billion won from the father of his former daughter-in-law, is planning to use the money to pay 23 billion won in his remaining fines. Roh reportedly settled a dispute over the interest that allegedly accrued on the slush funds he had left under the management of his brother and the father of his former daughter-in-law when they agreed to pay him 15 billion won and 8 billion won, respectively.

Roh’s brother and the father of his former daughter-in-law probably wanted to avoid an investigation by the prosecution when they agreed to a dispute settlement with Roh. The prosecution had been poised to take the process of retrieving illegally gained assets Roh had put in their trust. In 2001, the Supreme Court upheld Roh’s claim that he had left them with 12 billion won and 23 billion won, respectively.

As an Army general, Roh assisted Chun, his former Korea Military Academy classmate, in taking power in a 1979 military coup. In 1997, the Supreme Court sentenced Roh to 17 years behind bars and Chun to life in prison for treason. A presidential pardon set both free the next year. But it did not exonerate Roh and Chun, who had taken huge amounts of money in bribes, from the obligations to pay 262.8 billion won and 220.5 billion won in fines, respectively.

Roh and Chun have since taken different paths. Roh has paid 239.7 billion won, promising to pay the remainder when he takes money from his brother and the father of his former daughter-in-law. But Chun, who once claimed that the 290,000 won in his bank account was all the money he had, has yet to pay 167.2 billion won.

The prosecution, which arrested Chun’s brother-in-law on charges of dodging taxes last week, is reportedly planning to summon Chun’s second son this week to question him on his questionable purchase of land from his jailed uncle. It has also impounded assets of a corporation under the management of one of Chun’s nephews, who is suspected of managing Chun’s hidden assets.

Chun, unlike Roh, is blindsided by his greed. In refusing to pay up his fines, he has put his children and relatives, if not himself, in jeopardy. The prosecution says a deal with Chun is out of the question and that it is in the process of administering justice against Chun’s family and relatives.