Since March 12, Chun Woo-won, grandson of South Korea’s former president Chun Doo-hwan, has disclosed revelations about his family and acquaintances on Instagram. Under the username @hope.with.jesuss, Chun confessed he wanted to shed light on the crimes people around him were committing. To prove his identity, Chun shared childhood photos showing the former president, registration papers, and drivers license on his Instagram account. 

In his posting spree, Chun referred to his grandfather as a “slaughterer” and “criminal” whilst discussing how his family was living on illicit funds and black money. Unlike the former president’s claims of financial struggle, Chun states that his family has been living with ample wealth. He discussed the immense money poured into his education, the location of slush funds where his grandmother lives, and also uploaded a clip of a woman—claimed to be his grandmother—playing screen golf at the ex-president’s house. 

“It was already a known fact that Chun Doo-hwan had a history of treason and bribery,” Ann Lee (11), keen follower of this issue, said. “This made me wonder why his grandson suddenly decided to continue to reveal the ex-president’s crimes, as well as that of his family members.”

Chun also alleged his father fabricated papers to conceal his crime in order to obtain US citizenship and make false claims about being a Christian preacher. Chun asked for help, talking about how his father should be stopped from coming to the US to use secret funds and fabricate his good deeds.

While exposing his family, Chun also admitted to being a sinner and passionately discussed paying for his sins. He shared several profiles of his acquaintances, revealing their names, education background, and current status, detailing the drugs they consumed and the crimes they committed.

My friend showed me his account and I was extremely shocked to see peoples’ profiles being exposed so explicitly,” Isabelle Lee (12), avid social media user, said. “There were a few people that I recognized, and it was surprising to see that most of the people Chun posted graduated from international schools in South Korea or some of the most prestigious boarding schools many know of.”

Chun added that his family is likely to frame him as mentally ill but admitted to having been hospitalized with depression and ADHD.Chun later disclosed medical records that show he is now fit to work. 

On March 17, Chun started a Youtube livestream, during which  he apologized for his and his family’s wrongdoings, agreed to donate half of his possessions to the public, and claimed to have made a $52,265 donation to UNICEF. 

In his livestream, Chun consumed drugs real-time and began showing signs of hallucinations, speaking gibberish, sobbing, and screaming. The livestream ended abruptly when authorities entered his house. Chun was met with police officers in front of his apartment and was escorted to the hospital via an ambulance.

Today, his Instagram page is deactivated and his livestream was removed from Youtube for violating community guidelines. He was hospitalized in New York before arriving in Korea on March 28 to turn himself in, and the police will continue to investigate his drug use and case.