[30-Year Suspicion of New Military Regime Slush Fund] Ruling Party's Park Joon-tae: "Recovery of New Military Regime Slush Fund Must Ensure Procedural Legitimacy"

"Diversifying Crime Patterns... Crime Proceeds Must Be Recovered Through Independent Confiscation System"
"Illegal Funds of New Military Regime Can Only Be Recovered if Ruling and Opposition Parties Pass Bills Together"

Political circles are responding swiftly regarding the secret funds of the New Military Regime revealed during the divorce lawsuit between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Art Center Nabi Director Noh So-young. Park Joon-tae, a member of the People Power Party, recently proposed a revision to the Criminal Act centered on the 'independent confiscation system,' which allows the seizure of criminal proceeds even if the criminal has died. The plan is to establish a legal foundation to confiscate the secret funds of former Presidents Chun Doo-hwan and Roh Tae-woo, who are already deceased.

People Power Party lawmaker Park Joon-tae is being interviewed by Asia Economy in his office at the National Assembly Members' Office Building. Photo by Heo Young-han younghan@

The illegal secret funds of the New Military Regime have recently been re-examined. How do you view their reality?

It is known that the family of former President Roh Tae-woo paid all the estimated 262.8 billion won in fines around 2013. Recently, during the divorce lawsuit between Chairman Chey and Director Noh So-young of Art Center Nabi, the 'Kim Ok-sook 90.4 billion won memo' was disclosed, raising suspicions that there might have been other secret funds. In the case of former President Chun Doo-hwan, the fine is 220.5 billion won, of which 86.7 billion won remains unpaid.

Given the long time that has passed, what is the most urgent measure needed to uncover the hidden secret funds?

Both former presidents have passed away, and by retracing what kind of funds formed the assets held by their families, the reality of the secret funds can be somewhat identified. This is the direction most citizens desire, but it cannot be done solely based on public opinion without legal grounds. Therefore, securing procedural legitimacy based on legal grounds must be a prerequisite.

Is that why you proposed the independent confiscation system? Can this law help recover secret funds?

This law was not proposed solely to recover the secret funds of the two former presidents, but such intentions are included in the review. According to Article 49 of the Criminal Act, criminal proceeds can only be confiscated if the suspect or criminal is punished. If the criminal is not punished, even if the criminal proceeds are right in front of you, they cannot be recovered. The independent confiscation system aims to establish separate provisions that allow confiscation of criminal proceeds under certain conditions, even in cases such as expiration of the statute of limitations or fleeing abroad.

Why was the independent confiscation system proposed now?

The independent confiscation system is also operated overseas in countries like the United States and Germany. Since international organizations recommend it, it is time for us to consider it as well. The most important point is that the independent confiscation system can be applied to rapidly increasing crimes in Korea such as the Nth Room case, online gambling, and voice phishing. The Criminal Act must be fundamentally revised to match the diversifying crime patterns so that criminal proceeds can be recovered and returned to victims.

What is your outlook on the passage of the law?

It is difficult to recover the secret funds of the New Military Regime with the independent confiscation system alone. If a retroactive opposition party bill regarding the two former presidents is reviewed and passed together, it will create grounds for confiscating the secret funds of the New Military Regime and establish grounds for punishing future crimes where criminals cannot be identified. In any case, the independent confiscation system must be the foundation, and there is some consensus between ruling and opposition parties on the principle of strict punishment that the state must pursue and confiscate criminal proceeds to the end. Several years have passed since the independent confiscation system was discussed in the National Assembly, and we plan to proceed toward passing it through discussions with the opposition in the Legislation and Judiciary Committee.