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Revelations from Chun Doo-hwan's grandson cause stir
Woo-won calls grandfather 'mass murderer,' family members 'criminals'
By Jun Ji-hye
The recent revelations made by the late former authoritarian leader Chun Doo-hwan's grandson are causing a stir as he said he and his family members have enjoyed an extravagant lifestyle thanks to huge slush funds.
This captured image from Chun Woo-won's Instagram shows former President Chun Doo-hwan lying down with two grandsons. Woo-won, the grandson of the former dictator, has recently made a series of revelations about his family members. Captured from Instagram
By Jun Ji-hye
The former dictator died at age 90 of chronic ailments in November 2021, having not paid back the bulk of the forfeiture related to his treason and bribery convictions. Attention is drawn to whether the grandson's revelations could lead state prosecutors to collect 92.5 billion won ($70.5 million) of the still -unrecovered money illegally attained by Chun.
Since Monday, the grandson ― Chun Woo-won ― has been making a series of revelations about his family members through Instagram, YouTube and several media interviews, calling his grandfather a “mass murderer,” and all of his family members “criminals.”
Woo-won, the son of Jae-yong, the second son of the former president, said he decided to make the revelations to help uncover the “criminal activities and fraud” committed by his family members.
Chun Doo-hwan is a former Army general who rose to power through a military coup in December 1979 and led an authoritarian government from 1980 to 1988.
During the Gwangju Democratic Uprising that began on May 18 in 1980, thousands of Gwangju citizens rose up against the military junta led by Chun. According to official data, more than 200 people were killed, with 1,800 wounded.
Chun Woo-won
The Supreme Court found him guilty of treason, bribery and other crimes in 1997 and sentenced him to death, which was later commuted to a life sentence, before a presidential pardon released him from prison. He was also ordered to forfeit 220 billion won for having amassed slush funds, which he refused to pay, claiming to have only 290,000 won to his name.
State prosecutors have so far been able to collect 127.9 billion won, accounting for only 58 percent of the total forfeit as of last October.
Contrary to the former strongman's claims of poverty, he and his family members have since been living in luxury, according to Woo-won.
Woo-won, 27, claimed that huge slush funds could still be found at the house in western Seoul's Yeonhui-dong where the Chun's widow Lee Soon-ja lives.
“I could go to school in the United States as I was given millions of won from an unknown source every year,” the grandson said during an interview with Yonhap News Agency, Wednesday. “At least 1 billion won was used for my education. That would not have been clean money.”
He said his uncles and cousins “would have been given much more money for sure.”
In a video clip he uploaded to Instagram, he said his father has been committing fraud in Korea by posing as an evangelist and is currently going through a legal process to acquire U.S. citizenship.
“Please help, so this person cannot use slush funds in the United States and pretend to be all nice in front of people and entirely different behind their back,” Woo-won said.
This captured image from a video clip uploaded on Chun Woo-won's Instagram shows a woman playing screen golf at home. Woo-won later confirmed the woman was his grandmother, former first lady Lee Soon-ja. Captured from Instagram
Woo-won also said the third son of the former president is currently running a winery in Napa Valley, a renowned Californian wine-producing region.
“Only those who have astronomical money can enter the winery business. I can smell dark money here,” Woo-won said.
The grandson also disclosed another video clip in which an old woman was playing screen golf at home.
He later confirmed that the woman was his grandmother ― Lee Soon-ja.
Regarding his son's revelation, Jae-yong said his son has been suffering from depression for years, making an apology for “failing to take care of his child well.”
Regarding the various accusations raised by his son, Jae-yong said, “I am too embarrassed to comment.”
Meanwhile, Woo-won has also launched accusations against two Air Force officers, accusing one of using illegal drugs and the other of committing sex crimes.
In response, the Ministry of National Defense said Thursday that it is reviewing the need to investigate the two, while not ruling out the possibility that Woo-won has made unilateral, groundless claims.