[EDITORIALS]No more black money

Readers who saw yesterday’s newspaper would not have believed their eyes. What they saw was the picture of a room where a great deal of cash was stacked up. We are utterly discouraged and enraged that a corrupt businessman prepared slush funds and concealed the sum in his home.
Black money used in illicit and secret trade between powerful people and businesses has been found everywhere, from offices to car trunks to living rooms. The amount of the black money is at least several dozen million won and it often easily reaches several dozen billion won.
Now almost all citizens know that a mid-size Samsonite briefcase can hold about 100 million won of cash, a sports bag can hold 50 million won and an apple box and a golf club bag each can hold 200 million won. The prosecution investigating illegal political funds found out that a mid-sized car can hold 4 billion won in cash. This shows how rampant the illicit and insidious trade is between some businessmen who funnel money from company coffers into their personal accounts and politicians who have power and want money.
We are dumbfounded that a vacant house in Seoul was used as a businessman’s personal safe to keep his illegal money when about 40 percent of Seoulites do not even own a house.
While time has passed and the nation has experienced many regime changes, the illegal money trade practice has never been corrected. On the contrary, methods of preparing and transferring black money have become more sophisticated as society advanced.
Money earned from hard labor and paying taxes is sacred. But money easily made dodging taxes becomes the root of all evil. What the government should do first is prevent the creation of black money. It must do its best to control illegal real estate speculation. It will also have to strictly crack down on businesses so that they can become transparent in money matters.
We now ask businessmen, politicians and government officials: Do you by any chance see the wrath of citizens who saw the picture of a pile of black money?