PHOTOS 'What?!': Former leader bristles at reporters questioning 1980 massacre

Reporters flank former President Chun Doo-whan at Gwangju District Court, Monday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

• Published Mar 11, 2019 9:47 AM KST
• Updated Mar 11, 2019 4:19 PM KST

Former President Chun Doo-hwan arrived at a district court in Gwangju on Monday to testify in a trial handling a defamation case against him.

He arrived at the court at 12:35 p.m., nearly four hours after he left his residence in Yeonhui-dong, Seoul. The trial is set to begin at 2:30 p.m.

Chun is accompanied by his wife and former first lady Lee Soon-ja and his attorney.

Chun, who led an authoritarian government from 1980-1988, was indicted last May on charges that his memoir defamed victims of his government's bloody crackdown on the Gwangju pro-democracy revolt.

He is accused of libeling late activist priest Cho Chul-hyun, who said he saw soldiers shooting at citizens from helicopters during the bloody suppression of the protests against Chun's rule.

Chun denied the claim in his memoir published in early 2017. He called Cho "Satan wearing a mask" and claimed that what Cho said was a flat-out lie.

Gwangju District Court issued a subpoena against Chun, 88, after he repeatedly refused to come to the hearing, citing health conditions that include a claim that he has Alzheimer's disease.

His lawyer has said the former president has no intention of evading court proceedings.

Prosecutors began investigating after a relative of Cho filed a complaint. If convicted, Chun could face up to two years' jail or a fine of up to 5 million won ($4,550).

The former army general seized power in a 1979 coup and ruled the country until early 1988. He was sentenced to death in 1996 for treason and bribery. The highest court reduced his sentence to life imprisonment, and he was released in December 1997 on a presidential pardon.

The primary issue of former President Chun Doo-hwan's ongoing libel trial involves his denial of the existence of helicopter strafing at citizens during a bloody military crackdown on the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju.

In his memoirs, published in 2017, Chun strongly rebutted late activist priest Cho Chul-hyun's lifetime claim that he saw soldiers in helicopters firing at citizens during the bloody suppression, calling Cho a "shameless liar." Later, one of Cho's relatives filed a libel suit against Chun.

A key issue at the trial is likely to be whether Chun's insistence of "no firing from helicopters" in his book is true and whether he intentionally wrote the claim if he knew it was untrue.

Earlier probes by a special investigation committee under the defense ministry and prosecution concluded that there had been machine-guns firing from hovering helicopters.

A National Forensic Service researcher also concluded that bullet marks found on the outer wall of the Jeonil Building, just across from the South Jeolla provincial government building in Gwangju, 329 kilometers south of Seoul, appeared to be the results of shooting from helicopters. The provincial government building was then a base for citizen soldiers.

In its final report after a months-long probe, the defense ministry panel said Army helicopters fired at Gwangju citizens on May 21 and 27 that year.

The prosecution also said it had confirmed secret telegrams, drawn up by the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, reporting that there would be firing from helicopters and that firing at citizens from helicopters took place.

The prosecution has also judged that given that Chun had received full reports on the crackdown at the time, his claim in the memoirs that he had no idea of shooting from helicopters was a lie.

If convicted, Chun could face up to two years in prison or a fine of up to 5 million won ($4,550). (Yonhap)