Investigations of Roh end, but others will linger

Roh Gun-ho, left, and Jeong-yeon, son and daughter of former President Roh Moo-hyun, watch in sorrow Saturday as their father’s body was moved to Bongha Village, Gimhae, South Gyeongsang. [YONHAP]

Hours after former President Roh Moo-hyun’s death, prosecutors wrapped up their probes into the scandal that brought him down.

The investigations were automatically ended because prosecutors no longer have jurisdiction over the case due to Roh’s death, according to Jo Eun-seok, the spokesman of the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office.

“We will make an official announcement on the closure of the cases,” he said Saturday.

Shortly after Roh died Saturday morning, Prosecutor-General Lim Chae-jin presided over an emergency meeting and discussed what to do with the three investigations that had been going on for months.

Along with his family, the former president was accused of receiving at least $6 million in bribes from Park Yeon-cha, a Busan-based businessman and a longtime Roh patron.

The central investigation unit of the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office was in charge of the case.

Roh denied having any prior knowledge of the money dealings between his family and Park and submitted to the prosecution’s questioning on April 30.

It was the former president’s last public appearance.

Roh was also a suspect in a Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office’s investigation for allegedly ordering his staff to remove presidential records from the Blue House when he left office early last year.

The National Archives, which is in charge of handling confidential national information, asked prosecutors in July to investigate the data transfer; Roh returned the records later that month.

The former president was also implicated in a defamation suit filed by family members of the late businessman Nam Sang-kook. The family filed a petition with the prosecution last December, demanding that Roh be investigated for publicly humiliating Nam in a televised press conference in March 2004 and triggering his suicide. Prosecutors said these investigations will end. Probes into Roh’s family will also be halted, at least temporarily.

The central investigation unit of the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office, which has been in charge of the Park bribery and influence-peddling scandal, said yesterday it will suspend any investigative activities during the nation’s mourning period. Roh’s funeral is scheduled for Friday.

Investigators also said they have postponed plans to seek a warrant to detain Chun Shin-il, chairman of Sejoong Namo Tour. Chun is suspected of receiving money from Park in return for his lobbying tax officials to halt a tax probe into Park’s businesses. Prosecutors initially planned to seek a warrant on Saturday, but the schedule was delayed to sometime after Roh’s funeral. Planned questioning of dozens of politicians and public servants accused of receiving bribes from Park were also put off, prosecutors said.

Roh’s elder brother, Geon-pyeong, was released from prison for six days, Saturday, so he could attend the former president’s funeral. Convicted of receiving bribes in other influence-peddling activities, Roh’s brother is serving a four-year prison term.

Following Roh’s suicide, many critics charged that prosecutors went too far during their investigation. Thousands of messages condemning prosecutors were posted on the Supreme Public Prosecutors’ Office Web site over the weekend. Many postings lambasted the relentless approach to the interrogation of Roh’s family. Roh’s son was subjected to five interrogations and the former first lady, Kwon Yang-sook, was questioned once. Roh’s niece’s husband has been arrested and Roh’s daughter and her husband were questioned earlier this month.

The beleaguered former president was questioned for more than 10 hours. Roh chided prosecutors for lack of courtesy when the prosecution attempted face-to-face questioning of both Roh and Park. Roh said it was too late at night to have such a confrontation and also it was not courteous to question a former president in that manner.

In addition to their investigative methods, prosecutors were also criticized for procrastination. Roh was summoned on April 30, but no decision was made for weeks on whether Roh will face an indictment with pretrial detention.

Roh’s confidantes did not hide their rage against the prosecutors.

“Is this what the prosecution and the Lee Myung-bak administration wanted?” asked Ahn Hee-jung, one of Roh’s closest aides and a member of the Democratic Party’s Supreme Council. “Whether it is a former president or an ordinary citizen, the prosecution should have protected human rights while conducting its investigation. But prosecutors leaked speculations to the media as if they were true and conducted an irresponsible probe.” Kim Du-kwan, who served as home affairs minister in the Roh administration, said, “The Lee Myung-bak administration is too cruel.”

“The vindictive investigation has triggered a shocking incident that should never have happened,” Kim Kyo-heung, deputy secretary-general of the Democratic Party, said yesterday in the party’s tribute to Roh.

As rage toward the prosecution percolates, the Blue House said it will later review how prosecutors handled the case.

“If the investigation was conducted improperly, there is no doubt that the prosecution will be held accountable,” a senior Blue House official said. “But if the probe proceeded properly, we cannot blame the prosecutors based just upon public criticism,” he said. “This is, however, not the time to blame anyone.”

By Ser Myo-ja [myoja@joongang.co.kr]