Chun Doo-hwan to attend libel trial in Gwangju over false accounts in his memoir
- 5 years ago
One of South Korea's former presidents, Chun Doo-hwan, will be heading to a libel case hearing in the southwestern city of Gwangju in a short while.
This over the deadly military crackdown on protestors in that city in 1980.
Our Cha Sang-mi is awaiting his departure.
Sang-mi.
Morning, Mark, I am standing in front of former president Chun Doo-hwan's house in Seoul's Yeonhui-dong district.
He will be leaving his house in about an hour and a half or so to attend a libel case hearing at the Gwangju District Court.
As you can see, it's packed with reporters and camera crews bustling to see the former president.
What we know so far, he will be accompanied by two teams of detectives, following the car which will supposedly carry his wife Rhee Soon-ja, Chun and his lawyer.
Chun's lawyer said last week that the ex-president would attend today's hearing and insisted that he hasn't dodged the hearing so far, but couldn't attend because of health issues.
This comes after the Gwangju District Court issued an arrest warrant for Chun, when he refused to show up at court for a second time in January, citing health reasons.
He refused to attend for the first time back in August of last year, citing issues caused by Alzheimer's Disease.
So Sang-mi, give us some context of Chun's case
Sure, Mark, Chun served as president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988.
He took power in a military coup in May 1980, where he ordered troops to fire on student protesters in Gwangju, who were calling for him to step down -- killing around 200.
Chun was sentenced to death in 1996, but was pardoned and released from custody the following year by the Kim Young-sam administration.
He was indicted without detention in May 2018 on charges that his memoirs, published in 2017, disgraced the late activist priest Cho Chul-hyun.
Cho insisted he witnessed the military firing at citizens during bloody crackdown of Gwangju.
Chun denied the priest's claim in his memoirs, calling Cho "Satan wearing a mask" and a "liar."
Later, a relative of priest Cho filed a libel suit against him.
If convicted, Chun could face up to two years in prison or a fine of up to five-thousand U.S. dollars in fines.
Mark.
Thank you, Sang-mi, for the update.
This over the deadly military crackdown on protestors in that city in 1980.
Our Cha Sang-mi is awaiting his departure.
Sang-mi.
Morning, Mark, I am standing in front of former president Chun Doo-hwan's house in Seoul's Yeonhui-dong district.
He will be leaving his house in about an hour and a half or so to attend a libel case hearing at the Gwangju District Court.
As you can see, it's packed with reporters and camera crews bustling to see the former president.
What we know so far, he will be accompanied by two teams of detectives, following the car which will supposedly carry his wife Rhee Soon-ja, Chun and his lawyer.
Chun's lawyer said last week that the ex-president would attend today's hearing and insisted that he hasn't dodged the hearing so far, but couldn't attend because of health issues.
This comes after the Gwangju District Court issued an arrest warrant for Chun, when he refused to show up at court for a second time in January, citing health reasons.
He refused to attend for the first time back in August of last year, citing issues caused by Alzheimer's Disease.
So Sang-mi, give us some context of Chun's case
Sure, Mark, Chun served as president of South Korea from 1980 to 1988.
He took power in a military coup in May 1980, where he ordered troops to fire on student protesters in Gwangju, who were calling for him to step down -- killing around 200.
Chun was sentenced to death in 1996, but was pardoned and released from custody the following year by the Kim Young-sam administration.
He was indicted without detention in May 2018 on charges that his memoirs, published in 2017, disgraced the late activist priest Cho Chul-hyun.
Cho insisted he witnessed the military firing at citizens during bloody crackdown of Gwangju.
Chun denied the priest's claim in his memoirs, calling Cho "Satan wearing a mask" and a "liar."
Later, a relative of priest Cho filed a libel suit against him.
If convicted, Chun could face up to two years in prison or a fine of up to five-thousand U.S. dollars in fines.
Mark.
Thank you, Sang-mi, for the update.