Judgment Confirmed Declaring the Auction of Jeon Du-hwan's Yeonhui-dong Main House and Garden Invalid

The residence of the late former President Jeon Du-hwan in Yeonhui-dong./Photo by Kim Hyun-min kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] The court ruling that the auction disposition of the main house and garden of the late former President Jeon Du-hwan's residence in Yeonhui-dong, Seodaemun-gu, Seoul, managed by CMS, was unfair has been finalized.

According to the legal community on the 16th, the Korea Asset Management Corporation, which lost the first trial in the auction disposition cancellation lawsuit filed by former President Jeon’s wife Lee Soon-ja and others, did not appeal within the appeal period, and the first trial ruling was finalized on the 9th.

The Seoul Administrative Court Administrative Division 13 (then presiding judge Jang Nak-won), which heard the auction disposition cancellation lawsuit filed by Lee and others against the Korea Asset Management Corporation, ruled in favor of the plaintiffs on the 17th of last month.

Former President Jeon had defaulted on part of the confiscated funds confirmed by the Supreme Court in 1997 with a life sentence, and the prosecution auctioned off the Yeonhui-dong residence to recover the confiscated funds.

This was a measure taken because former President Jeon was sentenced to pay 220.5 billion won in confiscated funds in 1997 by the Supreme Court for charges including rebellion and bribery, but failed to pay 100.5 billion won.

The auction targets were divided into four land parcels and two buildings; the main house is registered under the name of his wife Lee Soon-ja, the garden under his secretary Lee Taek-su, and the annex under his daughter-in-law Lee (surname withheld) in the registry.

The court recognized the annex as funds created through bribery but ruled that the main house and garden were difficult to consider as illegal assets and decided to cancel the seizure.

The Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1 partially accepted the objection filed by the former President Jeon’s family in November 2020 and decided to cancel the seizure of the main house and garden. However, the auction disposition on the annex was maintained.

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