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.