Roh Tae-woo's 30 Billion Won Slush Fund Excluded from 944 Billion Won Property Division; Prosecutors Continue Tracing the Money

[Financial News]  In the property division lawsuit between Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, head of Art Center Nabi, the Supreme Court of Korea excluded the alleged 30 billion won slush fund of former President Roh Tae-woo from the division. Prosecutors are reportedly continuing their investigation to determine the nature of the fund and trace where the money went.

According to Yonhap News Agency on the 24th, the Criminal Proceeds Recovery Division of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, led by chief prosecutor So Jeong-su, has been analyzing financial account records of Roh Tae-woo's family. It is also said to have asked the side of Roh's widow, Kim Ok-suk, to explain some of the money flows.
Prosecutors are also verifying the authenticity and date of preparation of Kim's so-called "slush fund memo," which Noh So-young submitted as evidence during the divorce trial.

The investigation began in May 2024, when the May 18 Memorial Foundation and others filed a complaint against Noh, Kim, and Noh's younger brother, Ro Jae-hun, the Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to China, on charges of concealing slush funds and evading taxes.

To prove the allegations, prosecutors are checking whether the source of the funds was in fact Roh Tae-woo's slush fund and whether the heirs inherited or used it knowing its origin. Because the money trail must be traced back to before 1993, when the real-name financial system took effect, the investigation is said to be taking a long time.
The fact that Roh Tae-woo has already died, and that Kim is now 90 years old, is also making the investigation more difficult.
Earlier, Noh's side submitted to the court a memo reportedly written by Kim, known as the "90.4 billion won slush fund memo," to show that funds from Roh Tae-woo were used in the growth of SK Group during the divorce case with Chey Tae-won.
The memo reportedly stated that 30 billion won from Roh Tae-woo's slush fund was passed to his in-law, the late Choi Jong-hyun, former chairman of SK, and used for the acquisition of Pacific Securities and for management activities at Sunkyong Group, now SK Group.
The May 18 Memorial Foundation later filed a complaint with prosecutors, saying, "Noh's side has itself acknowledged the existence of hidden assets acquired through illicit wealth." It also claimed that Kim donated 15.2 billion won in slush funds to a public-interest foundation run by Ro Jae-hun and that the total amount of hidden slush funds reached 126.6 billion won.
Prosecutors are analyzing the flow of funds by tracing backward from the time Kim contributed money to the public-interest foundation. The investigation is expected to take considerable time, as the transactions are old and the scope of the review is broad.
Meanwhile, Civil Division 1 (Family Affairs) of the Seoul High Court, presided over by Judge Lee Sang-joo, ruled on the same day in the remanded property division case between Chey and Noh that Chey must pay Noh 944 billion won.
In line with the Supreme Court's ruling, the court excluded Roh Tae-woo's 30 billion won slush fund from the calculation of the property division ratio. The Supreme Court said that even if the slush fund had existed and been transferred to the SK side, it could not be recognized as a contribution to the formation of assets because it was illegal money.

[email protected] Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter