hankyoreh

Chun Woo-won, the grandson of the late dictator Chun Doo-hwan, wipes down the gravestone for Kim Kyeong-cheol, a martyr of the democratic uprising that was brutally quashed by Chun Doo-hwan in May 1980 in Gwangju, during a visit to the May 18th National Cemetery on March 31. (pool photo)

The grandson of the late Chun Doo-hwan recalled seeing multiple bags stuffed with money envelopes in the bedroom wall of the former dictator’s home when he was a child, while describing how it was a “routine practice” for Hanahoe members and other visitors to provide spending money.

For a second straight month, 27-year-old Chun Woo-won shared revelations about the illicit cash that his family was rolling in.

His remarks came during an appearance Tuesday night on the KBS program “The Live.”

“It was a ritual for my family to go visit my grandfather’s house every Sunday,” he explained.

“When I was young, there were Hanahoe members and a whole lot of other people visiting my grandfather’s house, and they would always hand over money envelopes,” he recalled.

“There were several bags stuffed with money envelopes in the bedroom wall, and the envelopes were really thick,” he added.

Hanahoe was established in secret as a military group consisting mainly of alumni from the Korea Military Academy’s 11th class, including Chun and Roh Tae-woo. Its influence grew as its members served as a kind of presidential guard to Park Chung-hee. It also played a pivotal role in allowing Chun to seize power amid the chaos after Park was assassinated on Oct. 26, 1979.

Describing the envelopes as containing “millions to tens of millions of won,” he explained, “I think people were even more devoted to [Chun Doo-hwan] and followed him because of the practice of giving spending money.”

In a March 15 telephone interview with the Hankyoreh, Chun said his grandmother, Chun Doo-hwan’s widow Lee Soon-ja, would “pay my educational expenses from the accounts of women who worked at the house in Yeonhui,” referring to the neighborhood in Seoul where Chun and Lee lived.

“My mother said there was a huge secret stash of funds in the safe at the Yeonhui house,” he also shared.

Speaking about his grandfather, he called him an “object of fear that you had to put on a sweet act for.”

“Everyone, including family members, would try to look good so he would leave them a bit more of an inheritance or give them spending money,” he recalled.

Chun speculated that the bulk of his grandfather’s secret funds “probably went to Chun Jae-guk,” his father’s older brother.

At the same time, he said, “Since [Chun Doo-hwan] was facing forfeits and a lot of investigations for secret funds, these family members who stuck close to him because of the money ended up parting ways when the money went away.”

On March 31, Chun Woo-won visited Gwangju to apologize before victims and family members of victims of the May 1980 massacre. Since then, he appears not to have been contacted by his family, nor has he been in contact with them.

“When I was in the US, my family members were telling me to come back to Korea,” he explained, adding that they “don’t answer when I try to contact them.”

“My mother is the only one who has told me how proud she is,” he added.

Appearing on the SBS radio program “Kim Tae-hyeon’s Politics Show” on Tuesday morning, Chun spoke of how his older brother “tried to report me to the police and have me put in a mental hospital.”

Chun said he felt “deeply ashamed and sorry” about his grandfather, who refused to apologize for the May 1980 massacre in Gwangju before his death in 2021.

He added that if able, he would “like to” attend events commemorating May 18, 1980, Gwangju uprising and massacre he said.

In a message to his family, he said, “I hope that through my actions, I can encourage other family members to apologize.”

“That’s the only way we can uncover more of the truth about what happened [in May 1980],” he stressed.

In an SBS radio interview, Chun was asked by the host whether he had verified everything he said in his videos about wads of cash and secret funds that he had seen in his childhood. In response, he hinted at additional revelations about hidden funds.

“I’ll be able to verify what my mother has talked about in relation to that during an SBS broadcast this Friday [April 7],” he promised.

By Lee You-jin, staff reporter

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]