By Kim Se-jeong
Earlier this week, Chun Woo-won, a grandson of former authoritarian President Chun Doo-hwan, shocked many with revelations about his family's extravagant lifestyles paid for with money from slush funds. On Friday, the grandson again caught many by surprise by using drugs live on a YouTube broadcast from his New York apartment.
The former president died in November 2021 aged 90. Convicted of treason and bribery, he refused to comply with a forfeiture order ― almost 92.5 billion won ($70.5 million) of the money in question remains unrecovered.
The grandson wrote he would "reveal everything" on his Instagram account around 4 p.m. Thursday (local time), and began livestreaming around 5 p.m., according to news reports.
First, Chun apologized for what his family had done and said that he is also a criminal and should be arrested. Then, he mentioned the names of drugs and appeared to use them. He appeared to quickly lose control of his body, shaking badly and rolling on the floor.
The livestream, which had been on for an hour-and-a-half was stopped when authorities entered his apartment and dragged him out. The video has since been removed from YouTube.
Although he is alive, he remains in critical condition, it was reported, and his older brother is staying with him in hospital.
Woo-won's father is Jae-yong, the second son of the former leader who is now married to a former actress with two children. They are living in Korea and he is an evangelist at a church here.
On Monday, Woo-won criticized his father, claiming that his evangelical work was fake, serving only to obtain U.S. citizenship, and that he should not be allowed in the U.S. to spend money from the slush fund.
Chun Doo-hwan rose to power through a military coup in December 1979 and led an authoritarian government from 1980 to 1988.
Thousands of Gwangju citizens rose up against Chun during the Gwangju Democratic Uprising in May 1980; and, according to official data, more than 200 people were killed and 1,800 wounded in a military crackdown he ordered.
In 1997, he was found guilty of treason, bribery and other crimes and sentenced to death, which was later commuted to a life sentence. Later that year, a presidential pardon released him from prison.
He was ordered to return 220 billion won to the state for having amassed a huge slush fund, but he refused to pay, claiming he only had 290,000 won in his bank account. Prosecutors have so far been able to collect 127.9 billion won, 58 percent of the total forfeiture order as of last October.
Since Monday, Woo-won has posted videos and pictures of his family members on his social media account.
He disclosed a picture of his grandmother and former first lady, Lee Soon-ja, playing screen golf in her Seoul residence and said that his uncle, the former president's third son, is running a winery in Napa Valley, a renowned wine-producing region in California.
"Only those who have astronomical amounts of money can enter the winery business. I can smell dark money here," he said.
It's unclear what his true motivation is but the revelations are making people and the government look toward revisiting the forfeiture order.
 |
| Chun Woo-won |
The former president died in November 2021 aged 90. Convicted of treason and bribery, he refused to comply with a forfeiture order ― almost 92.5 billion won ($70.5 million) of the money in question remains unrecovered.
The grandson wrote he would "reveal everything" on his Instagram account around 4 p.m. Thursday (local time), and began livestreaming around 5 p.m., according to news reports.
First, Chun apologized for what his family had done and said that he is also a criminal and should be arrested. Then, he mentioned the names of drugs and appeared to use them. He appeared to quickly lose control of his body, shaking badly and rolling on the floor.
The livestream, which had been on for an hour-and-a-half was stopped when authorities entered his apartment and dragged him out. The video has since been removed from YouTube.
Although he is alive, he remains in critical condition, it was reported, and his older brother is staying with him in hospital.
Woo-won's father is Jae-yong, the second son of the former leader who is now married to a former actress with two children. They are living in Korea and he is an evangelist at a church here.
On Monday, Woo-won criticized his father, claiming that his evangelical work was fake, serving only to obtain U.S. citizenship, and that he should not be allowed in the U.S. to spend money from the slush fund.
 |
| Former President Chun Doo-hwan is seen lying down with his two grandsons in this image capture from Chun Woo-won's Instagram account. Woo-won, the grandson of the former dictator, has recently made a series of revelations about his family. Yonhap |
Thousands of Gwangju citizens rose up against Chun during the Gwangju Democratic Uprising in May 1980; and, according to official data, more than 200 people were killed and 1,800 wounded in a military crackdown he ordered.
In 1997, he was found guilty of treason, bribery and other crimes and sentenced to death, which was later commuted to a life sentence. Later that year, a presidential pardon released him from prison.
He was ordered to return 220 billion won to the state for having amassed a huge slush fund, but he refused to pay, claiming he only had 290,000 won in his bank account. Prosecutors have so far been able to collect 127.9 billion won, 58 percent of the total forfeiture order as of last October.
Since Monday, Woo-won has posted videos and pictures of his family members on his social media account.
He disclosed a picture of his grandmother and former first lady, Lee Soon-ja, playing screen golf in her Seoul residence and said that his uncle, the former president's third son, is running a winery in Napa Valley, a renowned wine-producing region in California.
"Only those who have astronomical amounts of money can enter the winery business. I can smell dark money here," he said.
It's unclear what his true motivation is but the revelations are making people and the government look toward revisiting the forfeiture order.
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