Six Hundred Million Won of Slush Fund of Kim Hong-Up

Former CEO of Seoul Broadcasting Company Kim Seong-Hwan, who is an alumni of vice chairman of the Asia-Pacific Peace Foundation Kim Hong-Up, has allegedly hided six hundred million Won that is likely to be a slush fund of Kim Hog-up to a company owned by his wife, Ms. Shin, according to the central investigative office (chief prosecutor Kim Jong-Bin) of the Supreme Public Prosecutor`s Office on May 23. The prosecution is tracing the source of the fund.

As a result, the amount of the slush fund presumably owned by Kim Hong-Up and hided by Kim Sung-Hwan increased to 1.5 billion Won.

A related person of the prosecution said, ` As the money transferred from Kim Hong-Up to Kim Seong-Hwan is laundered in a very complicated way, it takes time to figure out the fund source,` and added, `We may not summon Kim Hong-Up until late May when the World Cup finals get started.`

Kim Seong-Hwan allegedly transferred six hundred million Won that had been hidden in alias W company owned by his wife in April this year, one month before he was summoned to the prosecution, to Aram Consulting Company he established. Kim allegedly purchased alias K stock registered in the KOSDAQ with the money.

The prosecution also exposed that Kim Seong-Hwan received one hundred six million Won from a president of alias D construction company known only as K on June 2000 in return for helping to get a permit on the apartment construction in Kajoa region in Ilsan-Gu, Koyang-Sity, Kyounggi Province. The prosecution is investigating whether the kickback is relayed to Kim Hong-Up.

The prosecution is also tracing back the source of 3.2 billion Won in the name of Yoo Jin-Gul, a university classmate of Kim Hong-Up and brother of CEO of Pyungchang Composite Construction Yoo Jun-Gul. Additionally, the prosecution is continuing its investigation on whether Kim Seong-Hwan received one hundred million Won from an executive president of Pyungchang Composite Construction alias Kim as a kickback for the role of helping to end the secret investigation against the construction company by lobbying to a high positioned prosecutor.

Wi-Yong Jung viyonz@donga.com