Chun Doo-hwan is To Be Summoned and Investigated This Week

The Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Public Prosecutor’s Office, headed by Ahn Dae-hee, announced on February 11 that it will summon and investigate one of the former presidents, Chun Doo-hwan, as a reference in relation to an investigation on his second son’s, Chun Jae-yong, slush fund.

Beside the slush fund, the prosecution is also tracing the flow of the funds after getting a clue about another large fund which is suspected to be former president Chun’s hidden fund. This hidden money is estimated to be in the billions of won.

Prosecutor Ahn said that day, “We decided to summon Chun as we confirmed about 7.35b won (about $6m) out of 16.7b won (about $14m) controlled by Chun Jae-yong as his father’s,” and Ahn also added that, “We already delivered our decision to Chun Jae-yong’s lawyer, and soon the schedule of the summons will be settled.”

It has been eight years since Chun Doo-hwan was detained back in December 1995 on the suspicion of being the ringleader of the mutiny that had taken place on December 12 in 1979, and of the democratic uprising of May 18 in 1980. It is not easy to force him to appear when he refuses especially because he is summoned as a reference as well as the fact that he is the former president.

The prosecution is going to investigate how the money in question (about $6m) was delivered to Chun Jae-yong specifically while simultaneously tracking down the rest of his slush fund; about 9.35b won (about $8m) whose source is not known yet. It also plans to concentrate on a search for the whereabouts of “delinquent money” adding up to about 180b won (about $1.5b).

The prosecution will decide whether it will prosecute Chun Doo-hwan after determining if the 7.3b won (about $6m) (confirmed as a hidden wealth) was donated to his son Jae-youg and whether the money had gone through a laundering scheme especially after the passage of the November 2001 law which prevents money laundering.

The prosecution is also searching for the whereabouts of Chang, a former financier of the Presidential Security Service of Cheong-Wa Dae, who controlled some of Chun’s money in 1987, after confirming Chang’s sudden leaving of the country last October when the tracing of Chun Jae-yong’s slush fund became full-scale.

Tae-Hoon Lee jefflee@donga.com