Military to look into claims against officers by ex-president’s grandson

(Screenshot of Chun Woo-won's Instagram account)

South Korea’s military said late Wednesday that it would look into claims made by the grandson of the late former President Chun Doo-hwan that his acquaintances, incumbent officers in the military, had used drugs inside the army.

The military said that it would try to confirm such claims raised by the grandson, declining to further comment on the issue. The two military men are reportedly lieutenants of the country’s Department of Defense and the Air Force.

The Ministry of Defense said that the claims raised by Chun’s grandson so far are biased allegations made by an individual, adding that such claims could lead to serious defamation when proven wrong.

It added that the ministry has no plans to launch an internal investigation or audit, explaining that those can be conducted when specific evidence proves to be factually accurate.

Chun Woo-won, the second son of the ex-president’s son, Chun Jae-yong, uploaded video clips and posts on his social media Tuesday, alleging that his family was living on illicit funds and had committed grave crimes.

Woo-won also disclosed the names, photos and profiles of his acquaintances and their Instagram accounts, alleging that they did and sold drugs such as cocaine and LSD -- which are illegal both in Korea and the United States -- and committed sex crimes. Some of the acquaintances’ posts were removed by Instagram for breaching the community guidelines on privacy.