Roh remains silent on bribe question

SEOUL, April 27 (UPI) -- Former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun used his right to remain silent during questioning in a bribery scandal, sources said Monday.

Unnamed sources close to the investigation told the South Korean news agency Yonhap that Roh, in a 16-page written response to prosecutors' questions, declined to answer a key query that specifically asked how $1 million supposedly taken from an indicted businessman was used.

Roh has admitted that his wife accepted money from Park Yeon-cha, a businessman who allegedly handed out millions of dollars to political figures in the Roh administration. When questioned by prosecutors earlier this month in Busan, she reportedly stated that her husband had no prior knowledge of the money, Yonhap said.

Prosecutors say they have received testimony from Park, the chairman of a shoe manufacturing company, that Roh personally asked him for $1 million in cash, which he allegedly sent to him through an aide at the presidential office in June 2007, the news agency said.