Court Rules "Only Detached Building of Jeon Du-hwan's Residence Seized... Main House and Garden Seizure Illegal" (Comprehensive)

Prosecution "Reviewing Various Methods for Appeal and Seizure Execution"

Jeon Du-hwan's residence located in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The court ruled that seizing the main building and garden of former President Jeon Du-hwan's residence in Yeonhui-dong, Seoul, is illegal. However, the seizure of the annex was deemed lawful.

The Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Junyoung Jung) made this decision on the 20th in the case of an objection to the execution of judgment filed by Jeon’s wife, Lee Soon-ja, and daughter-in-law, Lee Yoon-hye, against the prosecution’s confiscation. It was confirmed that the annex of the Yeonhui-dong residence was purchased with bribes received by Jeon during his presidency, but there was insufficient evidence to consider the main building and garden as illegal assets acquired through bribery. Under the Public Officials Crime Forfeiture Act, seizure enforcement is only possible for illegal assets.

Earlier, in September 2013, the prosecution seized Jeon’s Yeonhui-dong residence and other properties. This was a measure taken because Jeon had been ordered by the Supreme Court in 1997 to pay 220.5 billion won in confiscation money for charges including rebellion and bribery, but had failed to pay 100.5 billion won. However, the Yeonhui-dong residence was not owned by Jeon. The main building and garden were registered under the names of his wife Lee Soon-ja and his former secretary, while the annex was owned by his daughter-in-law. Accordingly, Lee Soon-ja and her daughter-in-law each filed objections to the seizure with the court in December 2018 and February 2019, respectively, claiming the prosecution’s seizure was unjust.

The court stated regarding the main building and garden, "They cannot be considered illegal assets or assets derived from illegal assets under the Public Officials Crime Forfeiture Act," and "the conditions for enforcement against persons other than the offender were not met." It was confirmed that the main building was acquired by Lee Soon-ja in October 1969, who demolished the previous building and rebuilt it in 1987, with registration completed accordingly. The garden was acquired by Jeon in June 1980 before his presidential inauguration and was registered under the secretary’s name in 1999. However, the court added, "If the main building and garden are deemed to be nominee properties of the defendant, the state can file a creditor subrogation lawsuit to restore the title to the defendant and then execute the confiscation judgment."

Regarding the annex, the court judged that "Jeon’s brother-in-law managed part of the bribes received during Jeon’s term as slush funds through money laundering and acquired the annex with those slush funds." It also pointed out, "The daughter-in-law was not residing in Korea at the time of acquiring the annex, and the sales contract was unusually completed in a very short period." The annex was acquired by Jeon’s brother-in-law in 2003 and transferred to the daughter-in-law’s ownership in April 2013, just before the statute of limitations on the confiscation expired.

The prosecution immediately expressed its intention to appeal the court’s decision. The prosecution stated, "The Yeonhui-dong residence is a property that Jeon’s eldest son, Jae-guk, acknowledged on September 10, 2013, as Jeon’s actual property, and the entire family declared their willingness to actively cooperate with its recovery," adding, "We will carefully analyze the court’s decision and actively file an appeal against the parts where the objection was accepted, and we plan to consider various measures necessary for enforcement."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.