hankyoreh

Ex-president Chun Doo-hwan

Former South Korean president Chun Doo-hwan, 88, who is being tried on charges of defaming the deceased, declined to appear at the first hearing of his criminal case in Aug. 2018 because he was suffering from Alzheimer’s disease. But now the Hankyoreh has learned that Chun went golfing around the same time. Witnesses also say they saw Chun and his wife, Lee Sun-ja, at the same golf course this past December.

In a memoir published in Apr. 2017, Chun described the late Catholic father Cho Cheol-hyeon (also known as Cho Pius) as “Satan wearing a mask.” Cho testified that government martial law troops had fired on protesters from helicopters during the Gwangju Uprising in May 1980. Chun was indicted without detention on May 3, 2018, on the charge of libeling Cho.

Chun’s first hearing was held on Aug. 27, 2018, at the Gwangju District Court, but Chun didn’t appear at court, explaining that his Alzheimer’s symptoms were getting worse. He also failed to appear at the second hearing, which was held on Jan. 7, for similar reasons.

But on Jan. 16, an employee at “K” golf course, in Gangwon Province, told the Hankyoreh that Chun had “visited our golf course and played golf there last summer,” around the time of the first court hearing, for which Chun was a no-show.

This was confirmed by another employee at K golf course. “I’m unable to specify the exact date, but it’s correct that Chun patronized our golf course until last year,” this employee said.

Chun and his wife Lee Sun-ja were also spotted at the same golf course on Dec. 6, 2018 by several people, including an individual surnamed Kim, 51.

“As soon as I got to the lobby, I could tell that the vibe was different from normal. There were people walking around wearing earpieces,” Kim told the Hankyoreh. “When I went into the dining area, I saw Chun Doo-hwan, Lee Sun-ja, and another man and women sitting down for a meal.”

Chun and his party were also spotted by an individual surnamed Lee, 50. “I saw them from less than five meters away. And while I was playing golf, I could see them on the course behind me. Chun was walking around without a cane and hitting the ball without anyone’s help, and he didn’t seem to have any major health problems. In fact, he looked young. He sometimes would walk instead of riding on the cart, and their game was going really quickly,” Lee said.

“My dad was born in 1935, and this man, despite being older than my dad, looked much more hale,” Lee added.

Kim agreed: “My friends and I were like, considering this guy is in his late eighties, he must be in really great shape to be playing golf like that.”

Another witness, surnamed Park, 51, wasn’t impressed by Chun’s story that he couldn’t attend the court hearing because of his Alzheimer’s: “That’s ridiculous, and it pisses me off.”

“Obviously, you might play golf as a form of exercise, but that’s a different story altogether from someone using Alzheimer’s as a reason to skip out of court and then hitting a golf ball,” Park added.

On Dec. 7, the very day after Chun was spotted at K golf course, a report said that Seoul tax agents from who had visited Chun’s house on Nov. 26 to collect outstanding local taxes had been informed by Chun’s secretary that Chun couldn’t recognize people because of his Alzheimer’s. The tax agents had to return to their office empty-handed, without having searched Chun’s house.

After reading this report, the people who saw Chun at the golf course agreed that his secretary’s claim was absurd. “My friends and I all thought it was ridiculous considering that I’d seen Chun golfing just the day before. I felt like I had to share this with the press.”

The witnesses confirmed that they’d heard from their golf caddies that the person Chun was golfing with was the owner of the golf course.

“My caddie said that a VIP was here and that the VIP was a frequent customer,” Park said.

Lee recalled the caddie saying that Chun “was very close to the golf course’s owner and that he’d come really often until the spring [of 2018].”

The owner of the golf course, surnamed Lee, told a newspaper in an interview two years ago that he played golf about once a month with Chun, whom he’d met through an informal golfing club.

As the owner’s remarks suggest, Chun appears to have been a regular at this golf course. “I quit about a year and a half ago, but back then [Chun] came by about once every two or three months. [When Chun showed up,] they’d send out the most skillful veterans to join him,” said a former caddie at the golf course.

There’s also testimony that Chun has been sighted at other golf courses, as well.

“Chun Doo-hwan paid a few visits to a golf course I worked at until Nov. 2017. I saw him pulling up with security guards in a couple of Equus limousines,” said a caddie who used to work at “N” golf course in Gyeonggi Province.

“He had a dedicated caddie, in order to keep people from blabbing,” the caddie explained.

“Chun Doo-hwan and Lee Sun-ja came to play golf together in 2018, too,” said a caddie who is currently working at N golf course.

Chun’s associates have said his physical condition has been so severe that he can’t appear in court.

“There’s no such thing as a recovery from Alzheimer’s, and you can only slow the progress of the disease. Chun’s condition continues to get worse,” former Blue House Secretary Min Jeong-gi, who currently serves as Chun’s secretary, told the Hankyoreh on the phone on Jan. 7, when Chun’s second hearing was scheduled to be held.

“Chun can’t even remember what he just did, and he brushes his teeth ten times a day,” Min said.

“Chun’s current cognitive ability is really limited. He can’t remember something even if you explain it to him two times in a row,” Min said on Aug. 26, 2018, a day before Chun’s first hearing at the Gwangju District Court. Min brought up Alzheimer’s in that conversation, too.

“The story about the Alzheimer’s symptoms and the story about the golf can’t both be true. If he actually had a good day on the golf course, [the story about the Alzheimer’s symptoms] is a lie,” said a doctor who specializes in neurology.

“Golf is a game in which cognition is extremely important. You might pull it off in the early stages of Alzheimer’s, but [the symptoms his secretary is describing] would mean he’s in the middle stages of the disease.”

“I can’t get into the specifics of his schedule. But what’s the big deal about going to a golf course? Alzheimer’s isn’t the kind of disease that makes you bedridden or gets you hospitalized. In terms of his daily routine and physical activity, Chun is perfectly normal,” Min said during a phone call with the Hankyoreh on Wednesday.

By Lee Ju-bin and Jung Hwan-bong, staff reporters

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