Former President Chun Doo-hwan and his wife join hands at a ceremony held on November 23, 1989 to mark the first year of her retreat at Baekdamsa Temple. Hankook Ilbo file photo
He is not alone in the negative evaluation of former President Chun Doo-hwan. Despite the death of the dictator, the Chun Doo-hwan family remains consistent with an attitude without reflection. This is even more so compared to the family of former President Roh Tae-woo, who apologized to the family of the May 18, albeit belatedly.
His wife, Soon-Ja Lee (82), was caught up in the noise as often as Mr. Jeon, and is still often talked about. After dropping out of medical school at Ewha Womans University in 1958, she married Jeon and became the first lady at the age of forty-one. Mr. Lee’s life in the Blue House was far from a ‘quiet help’. She appeared at the official ceremony in a splendid outfit and swung her arrogance as much as her husband. Naturally, there was a lot of corruption. Lee’s uncle, Gyu-gwang Lee, was implicated in the Lee Cheol-hee and Jang Young-ja bill fraud cases, which were the ‘largest financial fraud since the founding of the country’ at the time in 1982 and sentenced to prison. There were also rumors of real estate speculation involving relatives and relatives.
Former President Chun Doo-hwan (right) and his wife Lee Soon-ja vote at the 1st polling station at the Yeonhui-dong Community Service Center in Seodaemun-gu, Seoul on May 9, 2017, on the occasion of the 19th Presidential Election Day. News 1
Lee took the lead in glorifying the military dictatorship in place of her husband, who has recently deteriorated in health. In his autobiography ‘You Are Not Lonely’ published in 2017, he denigrated the Gwangju Democratization Movement as a ‘situation’ and argued that “our husband and wife are also victims”, and before the May 18 trial of Mr. Jeon in 2019, “My husband is in Korea Father of democracy.
The three sons and one daughter of the Jeon family (Jaeguk, Hyosun, Jaeyong, and Jaeman) are also ignoring their historical responsibility. The eldest son, Jae-guk, who ran a publishing house (constructor) promised to “work as much as possible” until he fully paid the fines imposed on his father in 2013, but there is no news of any reductions since then. Chun’s unpaid fines are still more than 96.6 billion won.
Jaeguk, the eldest son of former President Chun Doo-hwan, apologizes to the public before revealing his plan to pay the fine in front of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul on September 10, 2013. Hankook Ilbo file photo
Rather, they took part in crimes such as stealing Chun’s slush funds abroad. According to the independent media Newstapa, Jae-guk was suspected of establishing a ghost corporation in Singapore in 2004 to manage slush funds, and he insisted, “I’m sorry, but it’s not for tax evasion or property hiding.” In the same year, the second son, Jae-yong, was arrested by the prosecution after it was confirmed that about 16 billion won of money was found in his borrowed-name account, of which 7 billion won had flowed into Jeon’s slush fund account. He divorced twice and remarried in 2007 to actor Park Sang-ah.
The third son, Jae-man, is the son-in-law of former Dong-Awon Group Chairman Lee Hee-sang, and is currently involved in winery management in the United States. Hyo-sun married four-term lawmaker Yoon Sang-hyeon in 1985, but divorced in 2005.
Hyunbin Kim reporter hbkim@hankookilbo.com
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