Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and his ex-wife, Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, saw their "divorce of the century" spill over into a raid on Roh's "parents' home." Prosecutors launched a compulsory investigation after Roh submitted to the court, during the divorce trial, a "30 billion won memo" written by the late former President Roh Tae-woo's wife, Kim Ok-suk, regarding asset partitioning.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Proceeds Recovery Department (chief prosecutor So Jeong-su) conducted searches and seizures on the 21st at locations including the residence in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, where Kim is staying, in connection with allegations of slush fund concealment and tax evasion. The targets also included the East Asia Culture Foundation and the Roh Tae-woo Center, where Roh's son, Ambassador to China Roh Jae-heon, serves as chairman, as well as the homes of former secretaries suspected of providing borrowed-name accounts when the slush fund was created.
◇Director Roh Soh-yeong submitted the "Kim Ok-suk memo" in the appeals trial to have her contribution to assets recognized
In May 2024, Roh submitted Kim's handwritten memo as evidence to the appellate panel in the divorce case. It contained details related to 90.4 billion won in slush funds, including "Sunkyong (SK) 30 billion won."
Roh's side argued in court that in 1991 the former president delivered 30 billion won in slush funds to the late SK chairman Choi Jong-hyun, and that the money was used for SK Group management activities such as acquiring Taepyungyang Securities. The thrust was that because the father's slush funds were used to form Chairman Choi's assets, the former director Roh's contribution should be recognized.
The appeals court accepted this argument and additionally recognized SK Inc. shares as partitioned assets. As a result, the assets Chairman Chey must give Roh jumped sharply from 66.5 billion won in the first trial to 1.3808 trillion won.
However, the Supreme Court found that even if the slush funds were delivered, they were illegal funds and therefore could not be subject to asset partitioning. It added, regarding the 30 billion won, that "it appears to be a large sum the former president received as a bribe."
After hearing Roh's claim, the May 18 Memorial Foundation filed a complaint in Oct. 2024 against Kim, Roh, and Ambassador Roh for alleged violations of the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment, among other charges. The group argued that 126.6 billion won appears to have been concealed, including 90.4 billion won listed in the memo, 21 billion won suspected to have been held under Kim's borrowed name, and 15.2 billion won contributed to the East Asia Culture Center and the Roh Tae-woo Center.
The raids mark the first compulsory investigation about four years after the complaint was filed. Vice Minister of Justice Lee Jin-su appeared at the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee's plenary meeting that afternoon and, regarding the delay, said, "The parts related to the slush funds go back such a long time, and a considerable amount of time has passed," adding, "I understand that it inevitably took quite a while to confirm various leads on criminal allegations, inferences, and at least the prima facie showing of crimes." He also said, "I understand that Roh is not included as a suspect."
◇Former President Roh Tae-woo fully paid 262.8 billion won in forfeiture in 2013
Prosecutors must clearly establish whether the former president's "30 billion won slush fund" was a bribe and prove circumstances of concealing criminal proceeds whose statute of limitations has not expired. The statute of limitations for the crime of concealing criminal proceeds is seven years, so there must have been concealment acts in recent years to prosecute. They must verify whether the former president actually delivered the slush funds to the late Chairman Choi, whether the funds qualify as criminal proceeds, and, by tracing the flow, whether the slush funds were concealed and passed down.
At a plenary session the previous day, the National Assembly passed an amendment to the Act on the Regulation of Criminal Proceeds establishing an "independent confiscation system" that allows illegal assets to be confiscated even if the party has died. Under this bill, a legal basis has been established to recover slush funds to the state treasury. The targets for confiscation include acts that destroy the constitutional order such as insurrection, and crimes such as bribery, embezzlement, and breach of trust that exploit official positions obtained on that basis. The amended law will take effect in the second half of next year.
However, some note that tracing the money will have to go back to the early 1990s, before the 1993 real-name financial system was implemented, making it difficult to establish the facts. In Dec. 1995, the Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Department announced that the former president had created slush funds totaling between 450 billion and 460 billion won and had identified the use of 369 billion won. The whereabouts of the remaining 80 billion to 90 billion won were not determined. In 1997 the Supreme Court finalized a 17-year prison sentence and 262,896,000,000 won in forfeiture against the former president, and his side fully paid the forfeiture in 2013.