ID :
200322
Wed, 08/10/2011 - 10:14
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://oananews.org//node/200322
The shortlink copeid
Ex-President Roh makes series of revelations in memoir
SEOUL, Aug. 10 (Yonhap) -- Former South Korean President Roh Tae-woo made a series of revelations in a memoir published this week, including his alleged provision of a massive amount of campaign funds to his eventual successor Kim Young-sam ahead of the 1992 presidential election.
Roh, president from 1988-1993, also said in the memoir released Tuesday that he rejected North Korea's secret offer to hold a summit in 1992 because of concern it could be used as propaganda for Pyongyang.
The memoir also said that the U.S. had stationed nuclear weapons in the South until 1991.
Roh, a key player in the 1979 military coup led by his military academy friend and strongman Chun Doo-hwan, took power after Chun through a direct presidential election that he agreed to hold just months before the 1987 poll amid nationwide pro-democracy uprisings.
Roh, now 78, is credited for establishing diplomatic relations with China, the then Soviet Union and a series of other nations in the communist bloc in eastern Europe under his "northward diplomacy" policy.
But his image was seriously tainted after he was jailed for amassing a massive slush fund while in office as well as his roles in the 1979 coup and the bloody 1980 crackdown on pro-democracy uprisings in the southern city of Gwangju.
In the memoir, Roh said that he collected most of his political funds from conglomerates and used them to support the ruling party and for other purposes. Ahead of the 1992 presidential election, Roh said he provided a total of 300 billion won (US$278 million) in campaign funds for then-ruling party candidate Kim.
Kim won that election and served as president from 1993-1998.
Roh also said he received 140 billion won from Chun when he was campaigning ahead of the 1987 election. He also said that about 275.7 billion won was left in the slush fund at the end of his term and he thought that he would use the money for good purposes after leaving office.
"I feel ashamed that I gave concern and disappointment to the people and many of those who worked with me because of the issues stemming from the slush fund," Roh said in the book, adding that he "truly hopes" he would be the last president to stand trial in court.
On the 1992 establishment of relations with China, Roh said that South Korea could not inform Taiwan of its plan to open relations with China because Beijing had insisted that Seoul not to reveal the plan to anybody. Taiwan cut off relations with Seoul in protest.
Roh also said in the memoir that then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung sent a secret envoy to Seoul in 1992 and invited him to visit Pyongyang for summit talks. But he rejected the offer because the timing of the proposed summit was around Kim's birthday and a key aide advised that the summit would involve money.
On nuclear issues, Roh said that he was told by the then U.S. ambassador and the commander of American forces in Korea shortly after his 1988 inauguration that nuclear weapons were deployed in South Korea.
"Though media reports said at the time that nuclear weapons were deployed in many places, there was only one place" where atomic weapons were deployed, he said.
Roh also said that he issued the 1992 Korean Peninsula denuclearization declaration in an effort to prevent North Korea from building nuclear bombs, after receiving a report in 1991 that the U.S. planned to withdraw nuclear weapons from South Korea.
On the 1979 coup, Roh insisted that it was an "accidental incident" that happened in the course of an investigation of the then Army chief of staff on suspicions of connections to the assassination of former President Park Chung-hee earlier that year.
Roh also offered his personal assessments of former presidents and other key political figures, describing late former President Kim Dae-jung as a "person of great capabilities" and "keen observation," and former President Kim Young-sam as craving and struggling for power.
Roh, president from 1988-1993, also said in the memoir released Tuesday that he rejected North Korea's secret offer to hold a summit in 1992 because of concern it could be used as propaganda for Pyongyang.
The memoir also said that the U.S. had stationed nuclear weapons in the South until 1991.
Roh, a key player in the 1979 military coup led by his military academy friend and strongman Chun Doo-hwan, took power after Chun through a direct presidential election that he agreed to hold just months before the 1987 poll amid nationwide pro-democracy uprisings.
Roh, now 78, is credited for establishing diplomatic relations with China, the then Soviet Union and a series of other nations in the communist bloc in eastern Europe under his "northward diplomacy" policy.
But his image was seriously tainted after he was jailed for amassing a massive slush fund while in office as well as his roles in the 1979 coup and the bloody 1980 crackdown on pro-democracy uprisings in the southern city of Gwangju.
In the memoir, Roh said that he collected most of his political funds from conglomerates and used them to support the ruling party and for other purposes. Ahead of the 1992 presidential election, Roh said he provided a total of 300 billion won (US$278 million) in campaign funds for then-ruling party candidate Kim.
Kim won that election and served as president from 1993-1998.
Roh also said he received 140 billion won from Chun when he was campaigning ahead of the 1987 election. He also said that about 275.7 billion won was left in the slush fund at the end of his term and he thought that he would use the money for good purposes after leaving office.
"I feel ashamed that I gave concern and disappointment to the people and many of those who worked with me because of the issues stemming from the slush fund," Roh said in the book, adding that he "truly hopes" he would be the last president to stand trial in court.
On the 1992 establishment of relations with China, Roh said that South Korea could not inform Taiwan of its plan to open relations with China because Beijing had insisted that Seoul not to reveal the plan to anybody. Taiwan cut off relations with Seoul in protest.
Roh also said in the memoir that then North Korean leader Kim Il-sung sent a secret envoy to Seoul in 1992 and invited him to visit Pyongyang for summit talks. But he rejected the offer because the timing of the proposed summit was around Kim's birthday and a key aide advised that the summit would involve money.
On nuclear issues, Roh said that he was told by the then U.S. ambassador and the commander of American forces in Korea shortly after his 1988 inauguration that nuclear weapons were deployed in South Korea.
"Though media reports said at the time that nuclear weapons were deployed in many places, there was only one place" where atomic weapons were deployed, he said.
Roh also said that he issued the 1992 Korean Peninsula denuclearization declaration in an effort to prevent North Korea from building nuclear bombs, after receiving a report in 1991 that the U.S. planned to withdraw nuclear weapons from South Korea.
On the 1979 coup, Roh insisted that it was an "accidental incident" that happened in the course of an investigation of the then Army chief of staff on suspicions of connections to the assassination of former President Park Chung-hee earlier that year.
Roh also offered his personal assessments of former presidents and other key political figures, describing late former President Kim Dae-jung as a "person of great capabilities" and "keen observation," and former President Kim Young-sam as craving and struggling for power.
