S. Korea’s Ex-President Under Arrest Roh Tae Woo Charged With Accepting Bribes
Former South Korean President Roh Tae Woo, the onetime general who once electrified his nation by calling democratic elections after decades of dictatorship, was arrested and jailed Thursday for allegedly taking bribes worth more than $300 million from 30 business tycoons.
A five-page arrest warrant detailed Roh’s stunning fall from grace, describing an intricate web of avarice and collusion involving some of the nation’s best-known business conglomerates. Daewoo Corp. Chairman Kim Woo Choong was accused of paying Roh a total of $31 million on seven occasions from 1988 to 1991 - including a $6.5-million bribe to win a contract to build a naval submarine base in the southern coastal area of Pusan.
The 29 other conglomerate chiefs, unnamed except for Choi Won Suk of Dong Ah Construction Industrial Co. Ltd., were accused of giving bribes ranging from $625,500 to $31 million. Some of them are expected to be arrested as well.
The arrest of a former chief executive - a historic event that would have been unimaginable during the dark days of authoritarian rule - was hailed by some as proof of South Korea’s astounding progress since its first democratic elections in 1987 after three decades of military dictatorship. Others, however, bemoaned the nation’s image now “in tatters.”
The arrest also raised fears of economic instability as rumors abounded that some of the business leaders were the next targets for contributing to Roh’s staggering presidential slush fund of $653 million. Since Roh first disclosed his slush fund with a tearful televised apology Oct. 27, the Korea Stock Exchange has fallen by 6.7 percent, and officials are bracing for a possible period of confusion among South Korea’s mighty conglomerates, the country’s greatest engines of economic growth.
Steve Marvin, an analyst with SSANG Yong Securities, predicted the arrest would temporarily paralyze major decision-making at large companies and freeze lending to small, risky companies.
Roh, however, defused the greatest potential bombshell by refusing to disclose to prosecutors during 20 hours of questioning that began Wednesday whether he gave any slush funds to current President Kim Young Sam or other politicians, citing a memory lapse. Had he confirmed rumors that he gave millions to Kim - which the president denies - Roh could have toppled the presidency and left the nation in chaos.