'Terra·Luna Crash Incident' Kwon Do-hyung Confirmed for Extradition to Korea... Expected Arrival Around the 23rd

Montenegro Court of Appeal Confirms Original Ruling on Extradition to Korea

The repatriation of Kwon Do-hyung, CEO of Terraform Labs, who caused significant damage to the cryptocurrency market due to the Terra and Luna crash, to South Korea has been confirmed. It is reported that he will be repatriated to South Korea as early as the 23rd.

According to major foreign media on the 20th (local time), the Montenegro Court of Appeal confirmed the decision of the Podgorica High Court to repatriate CEO Kwon to South Korea on that day.

The Court of Appeal stated, "The original court (High Court) decided to extradite Kwon Do-hyung to South Korea based on the fact that South Korea's request for criminal extradition arrived earlier in order than that of the United States," adding, "This is evaluated as a correct application of Article 26 of the Act on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters, which applies when multiple countries request the extradition of the same person."

With the Court of Appeal confirming the original ruling, the judicial process of the Montenegro court regarding the extradition of CEO Kwon has ended. Although the Minister of Justice of Montenegro holds the final approval authority for the extradition procedure, it is reported that overturning the court's decision is difficult. The Montenegro Ministry of Justice is expected to soon officially notify the South Korean Ministry of Justice of CEO Kwon's repatriation and discuss the specific schedule and procedures for the extradition.

Bloomberg News forecasted that CEO Kwon's repatriation to South Korea could take place as early as the 23rd. It also evaluated that being repatriated to South Korea, where the punishment level is lighter, instead of the United States, where economic crime sentences are harsher, is a victory for CEO Kwon.

CEO Kwon caused losses exceeding 50 trillion won to investors worldwide and fled South Korea in April 2022. He was arrested and detained in Montenegro last March on charges of possessing a forged passport. Both South Korean and U.S. prosecutors investigated CEO Kwon and requested his extradition from the Montenegro Court of Appeal, which had custody of him. Initially, the Podgorica High Court decided to extradite CEO Kwon to the United States, but after the Court of Appeal overturned this, it reversed the original ruling and concluded to repatriate him to South Korea. The decisive reason was South Korea's request for extradition on March 24 of last year, three days earlier than the United States. CEO Kwon's side also insisted on repatriation to South Korea.

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