Travel Ban Imposed on Jeon Dae-wol

Jeon Dae-wol (43), chief representative for the real estate agency High-End Group, who is currently alleged to be deeply involved in the Korean National Railroad (KNR)’s oil investment business in Sakhalin, Russia, was confirmed on April 1 to be under a travel ban issued by the Board of Audit and Inspection (BAI) and the Busan Public Prosecutor’s Office.

The BAI had filed for a travel ban on Mr. Jeon to the Ministry of Justice on March 30, when suspicions surrounding the Sakhalin oil field business first surfaced.

The board plans to focus its investigation on defining Mr. Jeon’s role in the linkage between the Korean National Railroad and the Sakhalin oil field business, which was a project worth $62 million in investments, and believes Mr. Jeon to have played a major part.

It has also been confirmed that prior to this, around mid-February, the Busan Public Prosecutors Office had imposed a ban on Mr. Jeon.

On April 2, 2003, Mr. Jeon was sentenced to a 500 million won fine in the trial of first instance, as the prosecution investigated allegations of his illegal borrowing of 720 million won through a currency exchange fraud to later gamble on February 28, 2003, at a hotel located in Manila, Philippines.

Mr. Jeon’s fine was later adjusted to an amount of 300 million won by the trial of second instance, held last August 28, amid his talks with the Korean National Railroad concerning the Sakhalin oil field business.

Mr. Jeon offered a business investment plan to the Korean National Railroad, collaborating with the Korean Foundation for the Promotion of Railroad Traffic, a subgroup of the KNR, to establish Korea Crude Oil (KCO) on August 17, 2004.

Kwon Kwang-jin (52), who also participated in the establishment of Korea Crude Oil Co. (KCO), and who is currently chief representative of Cook Energy, an energy-trade firm, told our reporter on April 1, “Mr. Jeon had said that he knew a certain individual, a prominent political figure, to whom he could rely on in bringing KNR into business.”

While adding, “Mr. Jeon played a major part in KNR’s involvement in the oil field business,” he also noted, “Mr. Jeon had never made a call to this individual in the presence of others.”

Se-Jin Jung needjung@donga.com mint4a@donga.com