Prosecutors are pressing ahead with their investigation into allegations that the family of former President Roh Tae-woo concealed slush funds. Following raids on the home of Roh's wife, Kim Ok-sook, and the East Asia Culture Center — a foundation previously chaired by Ambassador Noh Jae-heon — investigators have summoned Noh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi, for questioning.
According to legal sources, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Proceeds Recovery Division has notified Noh So-young of a witness summons and is coordinating the date of her appearance. If she appears, it will be her first time facing prosecutors in exactly 30 years.
Prosecutors are expected to question Noh about the circumstances surrounding the alleged slush fund detailed in the so-called "Kim Ok-sook memo," which Noh submitted as evidence in the 2024 appellate proceedings of her divorce case against Chey Tae-won, chairman of SK Group.
In those proceedings, Noh's side argued that 30 billion won ($21.7 million) in slush funds from the former president had been passed to the late Chey Jong-hyun — founder of SK Group and Chey Tae-won's father — and used to finance business activities of the Sunkyong Group, including the acquisition of Pacific Securities. The memo, said to have been kept by Kim, contained the phrase "Sunkyong 30 billion won," and photographs of six promissory notes worth 5 billion won each were also submitted as evidence.
The "Kim Ok-sook memo" submitted by Noh's side has provided the first concrete lead into the long-unresolved "bedroom slush fund." During 2000 and 2001, while the Roh family claimed to have no money and left 88.4 billion won in court-ordered surcharges unpaid, Kim paid 21 billion won in insurance premiums under borrowed names and donated 15.2 billion won to the East Asia Culture Foundation, then chaired by her son. In October 2024, the May 18 Memorial Foundation and other groups filed a complaint with prosecutors against Kim, Ambassador Noh and Noh So-young, alleging that the family had concealed slush funds and evaded taxes.
In response, prosecutors on Aug. 21 raided Kim's private residence in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, as well as the East Asia Culture Foundation and the Roh Tae-woo Center, both linked to Ambassador Noh. Officials from the foundation and a former aide suspected of holding accounts under borrowed names were also called in for questioning.
This is not the first time Noh So-young has faced a prosecutorial probe. She was previously investigated in South Korea in connection with allegations that she smuggled $200,000 into the United States, and in 1996 she came under scrutiny in a bribery case involving former Defense Minister Lee Yang-ho, though that inquiry was closed without charges.
In February 1990, while studying at Stanford University, Noh was indicted in the United States on charges of bringing $200,000 into the country without declaring it to customs. She received a one-year suspended sentence in January 1993. MBC reported that it had obtained sentencing records from a San Jose, California court showing that the prosecutor argued the large sum "originated from political circles in Korea and was smuggled into the United States through a Swiss bank." The court, however, took into account that Noh had not known the act was illegal and had voluntarily appeared for sentencing, and ordered only the confiscation of the $200,000.
Noh was questioned by prosecutors twice in connection with that case. In an August 1994 session, she explained that the money came from wedding gifts and similar sources. In a December 1995 session at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, she was reported to have stated, "I received it from my father for living expenses and know nothing about a Swiss account."
The following year, Noh came under investigation over allegations that she had received lobbying gifts in connection with the bribery case against former Defense Minister Lee Yang-ho. Lee had given Noh a top-grade diamond ring and necklace worth 36 million won in August 1992. Noh's side said Lee's wife had also been present and that the items were returned two days later. The Supreme Prosecutors' Office's Central Investigation Division closed the inquiry after taking those circumstances into account.
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