Exclusive: Prosecution office questions former Cheong Wa Dae protocol secretary over Roh Tae-woo slush fund allegations

The prosecution office, which took over cases previously handled by prosecutors, has summoned former Cheong Wa Dae protocol secretary Lee Byung-ki as a reference witness in its investigation into alleged slush funds tied to the family of the late former President Roh Tae-woo, it has been confirmed.

The criminal proceeds recovery unit of the Seoul Central District Prosecution Office — formerly the criminal proceeds recovery unit of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, headed by So Jeong-su — began questioning Lee as a reference witness at 10 a.m. Friday. The prosecution office is authorized to investigate cases inherited from the former prosecutors' service for 90 days after its launch; any case not concluded within that period must be transferred to the relevant investigative agency as prescribed by presidential decree. The investigation team is understood to be aiming to wrap up the case within the 90-day grace period.

Lee served as protocol secretary during the Roh Tae-woo administration and later as chief of staff to President Park Geun-hye. He is among the individuals named in the "Kim Ok-suk memo" — a document attributed to Roh's wife — along with former presidential security chief Choi Seok-rip and former chief of staff Jeong Hae-chang.

The prosecution office has also questioned officials from the East Asia Culture Center and a former secretary suspected of holding nominee accounts linked to the alleged slush funds, both as reference witnesses. The East Asia Culture Center is a foundation that had Roh Jae-heon — Roh's son and South Korea's ambassador to China — as its chairman. Investigators are tracing the source of a combined 15.2 billion won ($11.5 million) that Roh's wife, Kim Ok-suk, donated to the East Asia Culture Center and the Roh Tae-woo Center.

Last month, the prosecution office notified Roh So-young, director of Art Center Nabi and Roh's daughter, to appear as a reference witness. Scheduling is still being coordinated, and she has not yet been questioned, it has been confirmed.

The investigation stems from the divorce proceedings between SK Group Chairman Chey Tae-won and Roh So-young.

The appellate court handling the divorce case ruled in May 2024 that 30 billion won in slush funds from the Sixth Republic had flowed into SK Group, basing its finding on a memo and a promissory note held by Kim Ok-suk, Roh So-young's mother and Roh's wife.

It emerged during the appellate proceedings that Roh So-young's side had submitted to the court as evidence a memo bearing the words "Seon Kyung 30 billion won" and a promissory note in the name of Seon Kyung Construction — now SK Ecoplant — arguing that the Roh family had helped SK Group grow.

In October 2024, the May 18 Memorial Foundation filed a complaint with the Supreme Prosecutors' Office — now the prosecution office — against Kim Ok-suk, Ambassador Roh Jae-heon and Roh So-young, alleging violations of the Act on the Punishment of Tax Evaders and the Act on the Regulation and Punishment of Criminal Proceeds Concealment. The foundation argued that by submitting the memo detailing the slush fund to the court, Roh So-young's side had effectively acknowledged the existence of illicitly accumulated hidden assets.

In November 2024, the former Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office criminal proceeds recovery unit summoned a representative of the May 18 Memorial Foundation as the complainant for questioning. Then, in August — more than two years after the complaint was filed — investigators raided Kim Ok-suk's home in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, as well as the East Asia Culture Center, the Roh Tae-woo Center, and the home of a former secretary suspected of providing nominee accounts.

Meanwhile, Seoul Central District Prosecution Office Chief Park Cheol-woo told the National Assembly's Legislation and Judiciary Committee during a national audit Monday that while a guilty verdict could not be obtained because the defendant had died, investigators were "looking at the possibility of proving the new facts of receipt and pursuing confiscation."

At the same audit session, Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Kim Eui-gyeom suggested that Park's personal determination had been behind the decision to keep the Roh Tae-woo slush fund case at the Seoul prosecution office rather than transferring it to the Serious Crimes Investigation Agency or another body. Park replied, "It's not so much my determination as the prosecutors each working hard on their own." When asked about the progress of the investigation, he said only that he found it "difficult to confirm."