Kim Hong-up Directly Received 1.1 Billion Won

The Supreme Prosecutor’s Office confirmed on June 18 that Kim Hong-up, Deputy Director of Asia Pacific Peace Foundation, received more than 1.1 billion Won into his 3 accounts opened under his name in August 1998 from businesses and acquaintances. The prosecution is investigating whether the money was in return for favor.

The prosecution revealed that several deposits were made until January in denominations of 10 million Won to several hundreds of million Won. The prosecution found the evidence as they were tracing the money trail of Kim’s acquaintances.

The prosecution has been investigating whether Kim has been offered the money in exchange for favors. The prosecution is said to have found details of some 200-300 million Won out of the 1.1 billion Won had been given in exchange for favors.

The prosecution said that 1.1 billion Won in Kim’s own accounts are different from 2.8 billion Won Kim laundered, and that it does not include any money from his college friend Yoo Jin-gul or his high school friend and former CEO of Seoul Music Broadcasting Kim Sung-hwan.

The prosecution has secured evidence that some of the accounts managed by Kim’s acquaintances, in fact, belong to Kim and is tracing the funds.

When Kim appears for questioning on June 19, the prosecution intends to question whether Kim received any of the money in exchange for favors or whether he received some of the money his acquaintances received in exchange for favors. If enough evidence is found, the prosecution intends to seek arrest warrant for bribery and other charges.

The prosecution decided to charge tax evasion for the money Kim received without exchange for favors.

Meanwhile, the prosecution continues investigating the source and uses of the 2.8 billion Won laundered by Kim Sung-hwan and Kim Byung-ho, former administrative director of Asia-Pacific Peace Foundation.

The prosecution arrested and filed charges against Lee Gu-sung, CEO of “P” Promotion for receiving 1.7 billion Won from former Vice-President of Saehan Group, Lee Jae-kwan, in exchange for influence on investigation by the Financial Supervisory Commission.

Wi-Yong Jung Sang-Rok Lee viyonz@donga.com myzodan@donga.com