Fmr. Pres. Roh Tae-woo Sues Brother, Nephew

Former President Roh Tae-woo filed a suit against his brother and nephew, who serve as the executives of a company, accusing them of refusing to return a company that they set up with slush funds, which he entrusted to them in the past.

According to the Seoul Central District Court on Friday, the former president brought legal action against his brother, Jae-woo, and his nephew, Ho-jun, in an effort to take away his hidden assets and verify his ownership of the firm. Roh argues that the shares his brother invested in Aurora CS, a restoration storage warehouse firm in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, originally belonged to him. Roh filed suit against the firm and his nephew to remove him as an executive of the company. He also applied for provisional injunctions.

In the written indictment, the former president argued, “I entrusted my brother with 12 billion won of my political funds, including 7 billion won I received in 1988 to create the storage warehouse firm. My nephew, however, manipulated the owners’ names of 504,000 out of 560,000 shares to him, his father, and his father-in-law between 1994 and 2000.” He added, “I cannot accept his post in the company since I, as a major shareholder controlling every share of the firm, decided to remove executives appointed by my nephew.”

bell@donga.com