THE investigation by South Korean prosecutors into the nation's most powerful businesses may not have much longer to run. The thing is, it has only just begun.
Last week, government investigators started interviewing business leaders in an attempt to trace the origins of the US$650 million slush fund amassed by former president Roh Tae-woo. They are now indicating they want that investigation to be concluded by the end of this week.
The question being asked by financial professionals in Seoul is whether this is a real investigation or a token conducted to mollify political and financial interests nationally and internationally.
Hank Morris, research director of Coryo Securities, a local brokerage, said: 'Obviously there is a limit to how thoroughly they can probe the businesses in a week. Calling it a token investigation may be going too far, but it is unlikely that the government wants to push this to the firewall.' SBC Warburg analyst Jonathan Dutton said: 'It would tell me that the whole thing was a bit of a whitewash if that were the case. I would be amazed.
'There are still a huge number of loose threads, such as the whereabouts of funds stashed in secret bank accounts in Switzerland and details of many property transactions potentially linked to the slush fund.
'Plus there is Mr Roh's sudden onset of amnesia to contend with.' To date, the Central Investigation Department of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office has called in Chung Tae-su, the chairman of diversified conglomerate Hanbo Group, who was grilled for 11 hours on whether he bribed former-president Roh by making political contributions in return for lucrative state contracts.