Is he really sick? Ex-strongman's Alzheimer's claim seen as tactic to avoid trial

A file photo of former President Chun Doo-hwan and his 2017 memoir, removed from shelves last year for its “distorted portrayal” of the May 18 Gwangju pro-democracy movement. / Korea Times file

By Lee Suh-yoon

Former President Chun Doo-hwan, 87, is under public fire again — this time for failing to show up at his hearing Monday in a libel suit trial for defaming a late pro-democracy activist priest. His aides cited “health reasons,” claiming he is suffering from Alzheimer's disease, which many suspect is an excuse to avoid making a public appearance.

Chun was summoned to court after priest Cho Bi-oh's relatives sued him for calling the priest a “shameless liar” in his 2017 memoir. In the book, Chun flatly denies Cho's eyewitness accounts that military helicopters opened fire on civilians during the 1980 crackdown on pro-democracy protesters in Gwangju, a city 300 kilometers south of Seoul.

Cho passed away in 2016.

A day before the trial, Chun's wife issued a statement through a former aide, saying Chun was too ill to provide “proper testimony” in court due to his worsening symptoms, saying Chun had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2013.

“Due to his old age, he has recently lost much of his cognitive abilities, and has trouble remembering events from just moments before,” said Lee Soon-ja, Chun's wife.

The health problems were linked to Chun's 1995 hunger strike while he was in prison after being found guilty of treason and mutiny, and stress from the prosecution's 2013 search of his house to seize his assets, Lee said.

She also claimed the former president may not receive a “fair trial” as the case is being dealt with by a local court in Gwangju, where Chun is accused of ordering the massacre of hundreds of pro-democracy protesters in 1980, instead of a Seoul court.

The hearing date had already been delayed twice at Chun's request. Left without a choice, the Gwangju District Court held the first hearing without Chun, Monday.

“Having Alzheimer's was not a sufficient excuse for not showing up at the hearing according to the relevant law,” an official at the court told the local press.

Civic groups and internet users instantly lashed out at the former president's sudden decision not to attend, accusing Chun of exaggerating his condition to avoid the hearing.

“If Chun was diagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2013 and still managed to publish his memoir in 2017, are we supposed to believe that his condition got so much worse just within this past year?” one said on Twitter.

The former army general, who seized power in a 1979 coup, ruled the country from 1980 to 1988. He was sentenced to death in 1996 for taking massive bribes from conglomerates and playing a central role in cracking down on the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement, which resulted in hundreds of civilian deaths.

Chun, who has mostly tried to stay out of the political limelight since President Kim Dae-jung pardoned him in 1997, generated public outrage with his controversial memoir last year.

The book, which became a bestseller before being officially banned for its “distorted portrayal” of the 1980 Gwangju movement, refers to the protests as a “revolt caused by North Korean military intervention.”