The National Assembly on Thursday passed a bill aimed at collecting billions of won in fines from a former president who was found to have accumulated large amounts of wealth illegally.
   
The amendment bill calls for extending the statute of limitations on forfeiting and imposing fines on public officials' illegal wealth from three years to 10.
   
Under the revised law, former President Chun Doo-hwan will be required to pay the remainder of his fines by October 2020, not October this year.
   
Chun, who ruled from 1981-88, was ordered by the Supreme Court in 1997 to return 220 billion won (US$191 million) he was found to have accumulated illegally to the state coffers. He refused to make the payment, saying he was almost penniless.
   
The former president has so far paid only a quarter of the total, with some 167.2 billion won remaining unpaid.
   
The revised law also allows the government to collect the fines from Chun's family members and acquaintances with knowledge of his illegal property.
   
Other enforcement measures include giving the prosecution the authority to summon family members and acquaintances for questioning in connection with the case, and request data on Chun's taxes and financial transactions.
(Yonhap News)