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Park Chul-un, a political heavyweight even referred to as ¡°the crown prince¡± during the Roh Tae-woo administration, has filed charges against six people including a university professor who teaches ballet. Park claims they embezzled W17.6 billion (US$1=W950) of his money. He says he had been collecting the funds since 1987 to establish a foundation for unification and managed the money in 50 separate bank accounts created under borrowed names. Park claims he then put all of the money into an account in the ballet professor¡¯s name since 2003, and she withdrew all of it without telling him. Just who has defrauded whom will become clear only after an investigation. However, it is simply embarrassing to see a once powerful politician in the news again involved in something like this.
Park must feel crushed for having been betrayed by those he trusted. But the public feels uncomfortable in a very different way watching the incident. For them, hearing about the incident is like being forced to take another look at an old photograph of the shady side of Korean politics during a dark period in the country¡¯s history.
Park says the money was not an illegal slush fund. But his former aide is saying just the opposite: that Park managed a W100-billion slush fund created from money business conglomerates paid him. If the money was raised by legitimate means, why did Park manage it through so many accounts created under borrowed names at the risk of having it stolen?
Among the list of people Park has accused of embezzlement are relatives and high school alumni. They are all people close to him. If those people knew that money was raised through legitimate means, would they have dared to embezzle it?
The year 1987, when Park says he began gathering the funds, saw him rise to the position of the crown prince of the Roh Tae-woo administration. It was an era where the president had hundreds of billions of won left behind in slush funds after retiring, tucking away the money in his back pocket.
If Park had not mentioned this incident, it would have remained a secret. The reason why it became publicized was probably because he desperately needs to get the money back. He is teaching today¡¯s politicians a lesson about proper ethics and political funds.
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