| This combined photo shows Chun Woo-won, left, the grandson of late former authoritarian leader Chun Doo-hwan, streaming live on his Instagram on March 16, and Chun Doo-hwan lying with his grandchildren. Captured from Internet |
By Lee Hae-rin
Chun Woo-won, grandson of the late former authoritarian leader Chun Doo-hwan, who has been making online revelations on his family's criminal activities, plans to arrive in Korea on Tuesday to apologize to the victims and bereaved families of the 1980 Gwangju pro-democracy movement, the younger Chun said, Sunday.
The 27-year-old Woo-won, currently based in New York and son of Jae-yong, second son of the former Korean dictator, posted his flight itinerary to Korea on his Instagram account (@hope.with.jesus).
He wrote, "I will go to Gwangju as soon as I get there (Korea). I don't know anything and don't know where to reach the bereaved families. Please help."
The e-ticket shows that he will depart New York's John J. Kennedy International Airport on Monday and arrive at Incheon International Airport at 5:20 a.m., the following day.
| This captured image from Chun Woo-won's Instagram shows the flight itinerary of Woo-won from New York to Korea. The grandson of late former authoritarian leader Chun Doo-hwan wrote on Sunday that he plans to apologize to bereaved families and victims of the bloody suppression of the pro-democracy movement in Gwangju in 1980. Captured from Chun Woo-won's Instagram |
His grandfather Chun Doo-hwan is a former Army general who seized power through a military coup in 1979 and served as president from September 1980 to February 1988. He never admitted or expressed guilt or apology for brutally suppressing Gwangju citizens during the pro-democracy movement until he passed away in 2021.
Meanwhile, the young Chun will stop revealing criminal activities by his family members and friends and "donate" all his property, he said while streaming live on Instagram, Friday.
"Of course, there is a part of me that hates them, but I love them all … My family members have made sacrifices for me in difficult circumstances. My father paid for all my education. Every one of them showed me love," Chun said.
"No matter how hard I try to reveal (the criminal activities), people that I exposed belong to the top 1 percent in the world. What difference will my reporting make? That's why I will stop making revelations. A sinner like myself has no right to report."
All Instagram posts that Woo-won had uploaded accusing his family and acquaintances of criminal activities, including fraud, drug abuse and sexual assault, have been taken down as of Sunday.
When asked about his plans for the future, Woo-won said he "will not work or accumulate fortune" but plans to give away all his property without specifying to whom the donations will be made.
Since March 13, Woo-won has been disclosing a series of revelations about his family's criminal and fraudulent activities through Instagram, YouTube, and media interviews. He referred to his grandfather Chun Doo-hwan as a "mass murderer" and family members as "criminals." On March 17, he was seen taking drugs while streaming live on YouTube and was hospitalized.
Meanwhile, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office said last Wednesday that the prosecution launched investigations following Woo-won's revelations on slush funds.
In 1997, the Supreme Court found the strongman guilty of treason, bribery and other crimes and sentenced him to death, which was later commuted first to a life sentence, and then to a forfeiture of 220 billion won.
However, Korea's state prosecutors have collected only 127.9 billion won, or 58 percent of the total amount from Chun as of last October, as the he had claimed to have only 290,000 won in his account. According to Woo-won, his family has been living in luxury and huge slush funds could still be found at the family's residence in Yeonhui-dong, western Seoul where Chun's widow Lee Soon-ja still lives.