Prosecutors recently notified Roh Soh-yeong, director of Art Center Nabi, to appear for questioning. It is for an investigation into allegations that the family of the late former President Roh Tae-woo hid slush funds.
According to legal sources on the 11th, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Proceeds Recovery Department (Director General So Jeong-su) recently said it needs to question Roh as a reference witness and is coordinating a schedule for her appearance.
Earlier, in May 2024, Director Roh Soh-yeong submitted former first lady Kim's handwritten memo as evidence to the appellate court during her divorce lawsuit with Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group. It contained details related to slush funds totaling 90.4 billion won, including "Seonkyung (SK) 30 billion won."
Roh's side argued that in 1991 former President Roh Tae-woo 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, including the acquisition of Taepyongyang Securities. The appellate court accepted this claim and additionally recognized SK Inc. shares as partitioning property.
After hearing Roh's claims, the May 18 Memorial Foundation in Oct. 2024 filed a complaint against former first lady Kim, Director Roh, and Ambassador Roh on charges including violating the Act on Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment. Then on the 21st of last month, prosecutors searched and seized former first lady Kim's home in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, in connection with alleged concealment of slush funds and tax evasion.
Targets of the search at the time also included the East Asia Cultural Foundation, whose chair is Roh Jae-heon, Korea's ambassador to China and son of former President Roh Tae-woo, the Roh Tae-woo Center, and the homes of former secretaries suspected of having provided borrowed-name accounts when the slush funds were created.
Prosecutors are said to have recently summoned and questioned officials at the East Asia Cultural Foundation, identified as having received an inflow of 15.2 billion won in slush funds, as well as former secretaries suspected of providing borrowed-name accounts at the time. Regarding Roh, prosecutors are expected to examine the timing and authenticity of former first lady Kim's handwritten memo and to investigate the facts of the alleged concealment of assets and offshore tax evasion.