▲ Late former President Chun Doo-hwan (Yonhap)

top court-ex-president memoir

Top court orders late President Chun's family to pay damages over memoir's distortions about 1980 pro-democracy movement

SEOUL, Feb. 12 (Yonhap) -- The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that late President Chun Doo-hwan's family must pay damages for factual distortions in his memoir about the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju and for defaming a late witness who testified about the military's bloody crackdown of the movement.

The top court ruled against the late dictator and his son, Chun Jae-guk, over the memoir published in 2017, saying that it contains false information denying martial law troops fired upon civilians aboard a helicopter during the movement that began on May 18, 1980.

The court confirmed a lower ruling, ordering Chun's wife, Lee Soon-ja, and his son to pay 60 million won (US$41,600) in total to four groups dedicated to remembering the uprising and 10 million won to a nephew of the late priest Cho Pius, who testified to witnessing the helicopter shooting.

It also banned the memoir from being published or distributed unless the distorted expressions are deleted.

"Certain expressions in the memoir are false information stated by Chun Doo-hwan, and they have undermined societal assessments of the May 18 organizations," the court said, citing past court judgments on the movement and investigations.

It also ruled that insulting remarks about the late priest in the memoir amounted to harming the feelings of the nephew, a plaintiff in the case.

In his memoir, the late president called the pro-democracy uprising a riot and described himself as a "sacrificial offering" in the aftermath of the movement, prompting the May 18 organizations and the late priest's nephew to file the damages suit.

The pro-democracy uprising erupted as citizens gathered to stand up against a military junta, led by Chun, who sent troops to the city to crack down on civilians.

Chun, who rose to power through a military coup in 1979, died in November 2021.

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