The National Assembly has allocated 4 billion won ($3.79 million) from the 2014 budget to build a memorial honoring late President Roh Moo-hyun, parliamentary officials said Friday.

The project, which began in 2010 under a law honoring former presidents, aims to pay tribute to the former president who committed suicide in 2009 amid a prosecution investigation into allegations that some of his family members took bribes.

Roh’s single five-year term ended in early 2008. Under South Korean law, presidents are limited to serving only one term.

The government funding will cover part of the 55 billion won estimated for the entire project, with the remainder expected to be subsidized through private donations and other means.

“With the 4 billion won, it might be possible to buy a plot of land and start on the project within the year,” an official of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation said. “We haven’t yet decided on the location.”

The project is expected to include a library, an exhibition hall, a lecture hall and a research center, among other facilities.

In 2010-11, it secured a total of 8.5 billion won under the government of Roh’s successor, Lee Myung-bak, but was then excluded from the government’s annual budgets in 2012-13. (Yonhap News)