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Disgraced ex-president returns self-awarded medals
By Korea HeraldPublished : Sept. 23, 2013 - 21:40
Former President Chun Doo-hwan has returned nine medals he awarded himself in order to justify his illegitimate power seized through a military coup, the government said Monday.
The disgraced general-turned-president handed in the medals last month when he and his family were facing an intensive investigation by the prosecution over their concealed slush funds, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration said. It took some seven years for the government to collect Chun’s medals after it canceled them in order to correct distorted history.
Chun, during his presidency from 1980 to 1988, awarded himself the country’s highest medals of honor, including the Order of Taegeuk Military Merit, usually given to patriots in recognition of their lifelong sacrifice for the country.
In 2006, the then-Roh Moo-hyun government revised the Awards and Decoration Acts in order to cancel the self-awarded medals to Chun and his successor Roh Tae-woo. The government also launched a team to retrieve them, but both had refused to give them back. The two former presidents were sentenced to life in prison in 1997 for leading an insurrection and accepting bribes while they were in power.
“We have tried to collect the medals since 2006 but couldn’t complete the mission because Chun had refused to turn them in. But he returned them some days before the prosecution started an intensive investigation into his slush funds,” an official at the ministry said.
“The returned medals were already canceled, so they don’t hold any value or honor. However, the medals deserve to be kept, so we have decided to send them to the National Archives,” he said.
Four days after Chun returned the medals, the prosecution detained his brother-in-law accused of evading taxes and assisting the illegal transfer of wealth to the ex-president’s children.
The prosecution has been investigating Chun’s slush funds in a bid to reclaim 167.2 billion won ($155.4 million) in unpaid fines. Due to persistent pressure from the prosecution and growing public criticism, Chun’s son announced earlier this month that his family will pay all the fines by surrendering their real estate, financial assets, art and cash.
By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)
The disgraced general-turned-president handed in the medals last month when he and his family were facing an intensive investigation by the prosecution over their concealed slush funds, the Ministry of Security and Public Administration said. It took some seven years for the government to collect Chun’s medals after it canceled them in order to correct distorted history.
Chun, during his presidency from 1980 to 1988, awarded himself the country’s highest medals of honor, including the Order of Taegeuk Military Merit, usually given to patriots in recognition of their lifelong sacrifice for the country.
In 2006, the then-Roh Moo-hyun government revised the Awards and Decoration Acts in order to cancel the self-awarded medals to Chun and his successor Roh Tae-woo. The government also launched a team to retrieve them, but both had refused to give them back. The two former presidents were sentenced to life in prison in 1997 for leading an insurrection and accepting bribes while they were in power.
“We have tried to collect the medals since 2006 but couldn’t complete the mission because Chun had refused to turn them in. But he returned them some days before the prosecution started an intensive investigation into his slush funds,” an official at the ministry said.
“The returned medals were already canceled, so they don’t hold any value or honor. However, the medals deserve to be kept, so we have decided to send them to the National Archives,” he said.
Four days after Chun returned the medals, the prosecution detained his brother-in-law accused of evading taxes and assisting the illegal transfer of wealth to the ex-president’s children.
The prosecution has been investigating Chun’s slush funds in a bid to reclaim 167.2 billion won ($155.4 million) in unpaid fines. Due to persistent pressure from the prosecution and growing public criticism, Chun’s son announced earlier this month that his family will pay all the fines by surrendering their real estate, financial assets, art and cash.
By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)
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Articles by Korea Herald
