Chun Doo Hwan grandson heads straight to Gwangju after release
Published: 29 Mar. 2023, 21:06
Updated: 30 Mar. 2023, 13:02
Chun Woo-won, grandson of former president Chun Doo Hwan, immediately left for Gwangju on his release from police custody on Wednesday.
He said he will continue to apologize to the people of Gwangju regarding the atrocity committed by his grandfather during the pro-democracy uprising in 1980.
“There is a low possibility that my family will cooperate,” Chun said regarding his family member confessing to the various crimes that he had accused recently through his Instagram and YouTube videos.
“They will try to hide whatever crime that they had committed,” Chun said in front of the Seoul Mapo Police Station surrounded by reporters. “And I will apology for my family.
“I thank the citizens of Gwangju for accepting this sinner.”
He said he decided to expose the dark secrets of his family and close friends including the hidden wealth, drug abuses and sex crime to prevent others from getting hurt.
“I have no interest in my family’s succession squabbles,” Chun said. “However, I have decided to expose [the truth] as I didn’t want the nice people and their children that I have met during my volunteer work at church to be hurt.”
He said he has not been in contact with other family members.
Chun, however, said he confessed to the police on taking drugs including marijuana and Dimethyltryptamine (DMT), a powerful hallucinogenic and psychedelic drug.
“The tests that were made today came out negative,” Chun said. “But it seems I would have to wait for more detailed test results.”
Chun was arrested by the police on his arrival from New York on Tuesday for drug use.
Chun became publicly known after he started posting photos and videos accusing his family including his father, uncles as well as friends and acquaintances of multiple crimes.
In one of the video he called his grandfather and late president Chun Doo Hwan as a killer.
“He is not a hero that protected the country but just a criminal,” Chun said.
Chun said his uncle Chun Jae-man owns a vineyard in Napa Valley, California, and claimed that the business was funded through “black money.”
He even posted a video of his grandmother and the former first lady Lee Soon-ja playing screen golf set up at home.
During a livestream video, Chun showed erratic behaviors including saying he is “scared.” in Korean while shouting “Satan!!” while shirtless.
He has even confessed to taking drugs.
The family has yet to make a public statement.
President Chun sent in the military to stomp out those that opposed his military coup to Gwangju where there was an uprise. During the 10 days, 193 people were killed while 65 still remain missing while nearly 1,600 were either arrested or tortured.
BY LEE HO-JEONG [lee.hojeong@joongang.co.kr]
with the Korea JoongAng Daily
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