Late Chun’s 5.5 billion won in assets to be confiscated, overdue fines down to 86.7 billion won

Former South Korean President Chun Doo-hwan (Yonhap)

The unpaid fines of former President Chun Doo-hwan, who died in November 2021, are likely to be set at 86.7 billion won ($66.2 million), following a lawsuit that enabled authorities to confiscate an additional 5.5 billion won, marking the final indemnity payment from the former dictator.

This would bring the total collected fines to 132.72 billion won out of the 220.5 billion won imposed in relation to his 1997 conviction for rebellion and bribery.

Local media outlets and legal sources reported Thursday that the government recently won a lawsuit filed by Kyobo Asset Trust, which was entrusted with managing the Chun family's land. The lawsuit sought to block the transfer of proceeds from the sale of two land plots, formerly owned by the Chun family, to state coffers.

The contested assets were part of five forest plots located in Osan, Gyeonggi Province, which were seized by the prosecution in 2013 as a part of their efforts to collect Chun’s overdue fines.

In 2017, the plots were auctioned off, yielding 7.56 billion won in total.

However, Kyobo Asset Trust filed a lawsuit seeking to cancel the seizure, claiming that the two plots were unrelated to Chun’s criminal activities.

This put the transfer of 5.5 billion won out of the 7.56 billion on hold, pending the court’s decision, with some 2 billion already incorporated into the national treasury.

With the litigation terminated in favor of the government, the 5.5 billion won represents the last the state is expected to recover from Chun or his estate.