National Tax Service Chief Nominee Hints at 'Reinvestigation'
Impact of Choi Tae-won and Noh So-young Divorce Lawsuit
Attention is focused on whether the tax authorities will conduct a reinvestigation into the truth of the slush funds raised during the divorce trial between Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group, and Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi.
If the authenticity of the scale of the slush funds, the transfer, and the usage is clearly confirmed, it could become a major variable in the divorce trial heading to the Supreme Court. Chairman Chey and SK Group claim that they never received any slush funds.
Kang Min-soo, nominee for the Commissioner of the National Tax Service, appeared at the parliamentary confirmation hearing on the 16th and said regarding former President Roh Tae-woo's slush funds, "We need to see whether the statute of limitations remains on the illegal political funds," adding, "If that is confirmed, I believe it should naturally be taxed."
He responded this way when Kim Young-hwan, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, asked, "What do you think about the so-called illegal political funds obtained through the success of the December 12 military coup?"
Kang's remarks indicate that he intends to review the taxation of the slush funds, but if a reinvestigation is conducted for this purpose, it could also affect the ongoing divorce trial.
Former President Roh is known to have amassed slush funds amounting to about 460 billion KRW. Among these, 270.9 billion KRW received as bribes from companies were all confiscated, but the remaining amount has not been confirmed and thus not recovered.
However, Noh So-young, former President Roh's daughter and director, claimed in the divorce lawsuit against Chairman Chey that 30 billion KRW of the former president's previously undisclosed slush funds flowed to SK, and the second trial court, the Seoul High Court, accepted this claim.
In particular, during the trial, a memo kept by former President Roh's wife, Kim Ok-sook, was revealed, showing that when combined with funds given to other individuals besides the 30 billion KRW that flowed to SK, the total reaches 90.4 billion KRW. The court judged that SK Group was able to grow by receiving tangible and intangible support, including slush funds.
However, Chairman Chey and SK Group assert that they did not receive any tangible or intangible support from former President Roh. Last month, Lee Hyung-hee, Communication Committee Chair of SK Supex Council, stated, "After seeing the appellate court's decision on the (Chairman Chey and Director Noh's divorce) case, it was concluded that SK grew under the slush funds and protection of the Sixth Republic," adding, "We want to correct the court's judgment that the company grew with tangible and intangible support from the Sixth Republic in the Supreme Court."
SK Group argues that it is necessary at the company level to investigate the exact method of transfer and usage of the 30 billion KRW slush funds, the specific handling results of the 10 billion KRW promissory note, and allegations of special favors received as a company related to the presidential in-laws.
Currently, it is reported that there is no legal basis to additionally confiscate former President Roh's slush funds. However, regarding the amounts inherited by family members, collection is possible through inheritance and gift tax laws.
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