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Former president Roh Moo-hyun posted an apology to the public on his website on Tuesday and said Chung Sang-moon, a former Cheong Wa Dae secretary, is being questioned on charges of taking money from Taekwang Industry CEO Park Yeon-cha. "The accusation should be directed at us, not Chung," he said. "My family made the request, received money and used it. We did so because we still had outstanding debts." Roh explained that by "family" he meant his wife, former first lady Kwon Yang-sook, and that she had received the money from Park, a political supporter, through Chung. Roh also claims that a US$5 million payment Park had made to Yeon Chul-ho, the husband of Roh's niece, was a business investment.
He said money problems involving himself and those around him were causing trouble and added he was overwhelmed with shame. We are seeing the unraveling of an unfortunate incident that we had all hoped was not true. For the first time in 10 years, since ex-presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo were investigated on corruption charges, it looks as though we may have to see another former president's home being raided.
If it was not Roh's own debt, then just how much money did his wife owe to prompt her to turn to the aid of a wealthy political supporter while her husband was still in office? Roh's total assets were revealed to have increased by W500 million (US$1=W1,322) during his five year tenure that ended last year.
The big question is whether Roh knew that his own secretary for general affairs was being sent on errands to collect money for the first lady. Another question is whether other public officials and government offices under the Roh administration were pressured to offer favors. After all, we are learning that a presidential secretary ran errands picking up hundreds of millions of won.
Roh has labeled Korean politics until his tenure as being dirty, opportunistic and devoid of justice and promised to ensure that his administration would not grant special privileges and be free from foul play. It is simply unbelievable that such acts were being committed in the bowels of the presidential office.
A series of corruption charges are being raised against Roh's older brother Roh Gun-pyeong, who was put on trial for taking bribes in 2004 and for receiving W2.9 billion to influence the sale of Sejong Securities in 2006. Roh Gun-pyeong¡¯s brother-in-law served time in jail for taking W1.7 billion from businessmen in 2003. Now, the former president himself and his wife will have to be investigated. It is an unfortunate ending not only for him, but for the public, who will now have to endure another corruption scandal.
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