Seoul prosecutors probe Chun finances

Seoul prosecutors probe Chun finances

SEOUL (Reuter): After indicting former president Chun Doo Hwan
for leading a 1979 coup, South Korean prosecutors were digging
into his finances yesterday amid allegations that, like ex-
president Roh Tae-woo, he also amassed huge slush funds.

State radio quoted a senior prosecutor as saying Chun appeared
to have amassed 300 billion to 400 billion won (US$39 million to
$52 million) during his 1980-88 term in office.

The prosecutor was also quoted as saying the actual amount
Chun had allegedly stashed away was smaller than what Roh has
admitted to amassing during his presidency but the value was
"much higher" when inflation was taken into account.

This had been confirmed on Thursday when a prosecution team
questioned Chun, who is now at the Police Hospital in Seoul,
according to the radio.

Roh has been detained and indicted on charges of accepting
$369 million from 35 business conglomerates after confessing that
he built up $654 million during his 1988-93 tenure. His trial on
bribery charges started on Monday.

The radio also said Chun is alleged to have hidden a huge
amount of illicit funds in real estate and bonds under the names
of relatives. A Seoul prosecution official declined to comment on
the reports, only confirming prosecutors had launched probes into
the allegations over Chun's slush funds.

Chun is in a police hospital under heavy guard after being
rushed from his jail cell on Wednesday night. He had been on a
hunger strike since his arrest on Dec. 3.

"He continues to refuse intravenous feeding and suffers
dehydration and malnutrition but his condition remains stable," a
hospital official said by telephone.

"But we are prepared to cope with any unexpected accident
concerning his health as he is an aging man."

"Chun is still drinking only barley tea and milk," she said.

On Thursday Chun was formally charged with mutiny for
masterminding the coup that was followed in May 1980 by an army
massacre of pro-democracy rebels in the city of Kwangju. Nearly
200 people were killed by official counts but Kwangju residents
say the death toll is much higher.

Along with Chun, Roh was also charged with playing a "key
role" by pulling troops under his command off the border with
North Korea to back the putsch leaders.

Both were also charged with murder and attempted murder for
attacks on superior officers and with ordering military units
mobilized without authorization.

Mutiny and murder both carry the death penalty in South Korea,
although political analysts believe the disgraced former
presidents will receive long prison sentences, likely to be
commuted after a few years.