(EDITORIAL from the Korea Herald on April 15)

Probe of ex-president

When former president Roh Moo-hyun left Cheong Wa Dae on Feb. 25, 2008, people
thought it was an "improvement" from the past that no financial scandal involving
his family had been exposed during his five-year tenure.

The assessment was in
comparison to the two preceding administrations of presidents Kim Young-sam and
Kim Dae-jung, who had both experienced the humiliation of having their children
jailed for involvement in bribery.
Sadly for all who had prematurely expressed relief, traces of graft connected to
the Roh family began to surface in the latter half of last year. Tax authorities
and prosecutors' offices got wind of suspicious money transfers between close
relatives and aides of Roh and his known financial supporters. The arrest of
Roh's top patron Park Yeon-cha and elder brother Gun-pyeong on bribery charges
late last year marked the unraveling of the ex-president's claim to the moral
fiber of his family and political associates.
As if to open Pandora's Box, Park told investigators the names of the recipients
of his cash gifts delivered before, during and after the Roh administration. They
comprised almost all powerful figures in Korean society across the political
divide. Last revealed were Roh's wife Kwon Yang-suk, only son Geon-ho and brother
Gun-pyeong's son-in-law Yeon Cheol-ho. They have reportedly admitted receiving $6
million and 300 million Korean won from Park as a loan or business investment.
Roh broke his months of silence, which had started with the arrest of his
brother, and is vigorously defending himself and his family - with an apology -
using his homepage. He claimed no awareness of the delivery of Park's money to
his family until months after actual conveyance, but his arguments indicated a
perception that the money itself was clean. "Asking for moral responsibility is
one thing and leveling criminal accusations is another," the ex-president said.
Through their intensive questioning of Roh Geon-ho, Yeon Cheol-ho and the former
first lady, the prosecution is trying to prove that Roh Moo-hyun was the final
recipient of the money. Prosecutors are collecting statements from suspects and
witnesses in the distribution of the Park fund in preparation for impending
summons of the former president.
Park and Kang Keum-won, another of Roh's financial supporters now under arrest,
call themselves "small fry" in Korea's business community. Pointing to the modest
scale of their businesses, they are apparently trying to convince prosecutors and
the people at large that they were sharing a part of their personal wealth to
help the former president, his extended family and members of Roh's past inner
circle out of friendship.
Whatever claims of impunity Roh, his family members and supporters might bring up
carry an essential weakness. The great bulk of Park's funds released to people in
Cheong Wa Dae, high administration offices and legislature came from the huge
profits he made in his deals with state agencies. He earned hundreds of billions
of won from the sale of Sejong securities firm and the purchase of Huchems
chemical fertilizer maker, which would not have been possible without the support
of government power.
It is hard to foretell how the current probe will end. Roh may eventually have to
stand trial or possibly evade criminal charges through wise legal contention or
due to the government's political magnanimity. Under any developments, however,
he will have lost a precious opportunity to help establish a tradition of
scandal-free presidential retirement. It would have been an important foundation
for the republic's political stability.
(END)