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Former
South Korean dictator Chun Doo Hwan (C) leaves Seoul's Anyang prison on
December 22, 1997 after being granted amnesty ©Kim Jae-Hwan (AFP)
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The United States has
returned more than a million dollars to South Korea that were embezzled by a
former dictator and hidden abroad, officials said Tuesday. South Korea's former
president Chun Doo Hwan was convicted of corruption in 1996 in his own country,
but it took US agents years to track down the assets.
The
money was returned on Monday and, on Tuesday, US Homeland Security Secretary
Jeh Johnson met Korean Justice Minister Kim Hyun-Woong to congratulate him.
AFP report continues:
US
officials said the return of the funds, US$1.13 million in today's dollars,
demonstrated Washington's commitment to rooting out the profits of theft by
foreign leaders.
Attorney
General Loretta Lynch called the seizure "a powerful vindication of the
rule of law and an important victory for the people of the Republic of
Korea."
The
Department of Justice said FBI investigators had traced US$726,951 to a
California account linked to the sale of Orange County real estate by Chun's
son.
A
second US$500,000 was traced to a Pennsylvania company found to be linked to
Chun's "corruption scheme."
The
former leader, now 84, seized power after the 1979 assassination of longtime
military ruler Park Chung-Hee.
He
led South Korea for eight turbulent years marred by extensive corruption.
In
a judgment confirmed by South Korea's Supreme Court in 1997, he was convicted
of insurrection and corruption and ordered to repay 220 billion won (US$212
million).
Last
year, art works belonging to his family were sold off, but he is still a long
way short of repaying his debt to the nation.
President
Park Geun-Hye, the daughter of the late Park Chung-Hee, has chided her
predecessors for not pushing Chun hard enough to pay the rest of his fines.
Chun's son and his
brother-in-law were both given suspended jail sentences last year after being
convicted of tax evasion.
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