The prosecution has launched a task force with a mission to find out where former President Chun Doo-hwan stashed his ill-gotten funds and collect 167.2 billion in remnant fines, with the statutory limitation period set to end in October. The task force, comprising a senior prosecutor as its head and seven seasoned investigators as its members, will be in operation for 100 days.

Chun, an Army general-turned strongman, took power in a coup and brutally suppressed a civil uprising in 1980. He amassed an astronomical amount of money for his personal use by twisting the arms of business tycoons.

In 1997, he was convicted of treason and sentenced to life in prison. He was also ordered to pay 220.5 billion won in fines for taking bribes from large business enterprises.

Presidential amnesty freed him from prison in December 1997 when he had served eight months. But he has yet to pay 167.2 billion won in outstanding fines.

Chun made fun of the public when he said in 2003 that all that he had was 290,000 won in his bank account. Yet, he donated more than 10 million won to his alma mater, the Korea Military Academy, and occasionally went out on golfing excursions.

The prosecution belatedly created a task force for the collection of fines from Chun. It was better late than never. But the prosecution should be reminded that public confidence in the law-enforcement agency is waning rapidly as the limitation period is fast approaching its end.

Chae Dong-wook, prosecutor-general, was right when he told senior prosecutors at their recent conference that his agency was not seen to be doing a proper job because uncollected fines, including those of Chun, were piling up. Indeed, it should not come as a surprise if the public wonders whether the prosecution is unwilling to collect or incapable of collecting the remnant fines from Chun.

The public has good reason to harbor suspicions about the prosecution. In an investigation into a tax evasion case involving Chun’s second son, the prosecution found in 2004 that more than 7.3 billion won the junior Chun had in bonds came from the senior Chun’s slush funds. Subsequently, the court came up with a ruling in favor of the prosecution.

Yet, it was recently disclosed that the prosecution did not start the process of taking the money. The prosecution, which acknowledges the omission, has yet to offer a clear-cut explanation.

If it wishes to regain public confidence, the prosecution will have to try its best to collect as much in remnant fines from Chun as possible before the Oct. 10 deadline.