Jeon Woo-won Disowned by Great Uncle Jeon Jae-guk... "Not My Nephew"

Night of the 19th on KBS1TV Current Affairs Spotlight
Jeon Jaeguk Suspended from Duties as CEO of BookPlus for Breach of Trust

Jeon Woo-won (27), the grandson of former President Jeon Du-hwan, has been disowned by his uncle Jeon Jae-guk (64).

This fact was revealed in the KBS1TV current affairs program Sisajikgyeok episode titled "His Excellency and I, Jeon Woo-won Talks About the Jeon Du-hwan Family's Black Money," which aired on the night of the 19th.

Jeon Woo-won has been criticizing his grandfather, former President Jeon Du-hwan, and has been taking steps to apologize on behalf of his family for past wrongdoings, including apologizing to the victims of the May 18 Democratic Movement.

Jeon Woo-won revealed that he received a text message from his uncle Jeon Jae-guk, who was dissatisfied with his actions, saying, "You are no longer my nephew or anything else, so do not visit or call. Cancel your phone and live properly."

A text message that Jeon Woo-won received from Jeon Jae-guk. [Image source=KBS1TV 'Sisa Jikgyeok' broadcast capture]

The broadcast also reported testimony that Jeon Jae-guk asked an acquaintance to cash out 20 billion won worth of bearer bonds, a process that took three to four months. Additionally, testimony from Jeon Woo-won's mother, Ms. Choi, was presented: "In the past, my father-in-law asked my father to keep a certain box. My husband (Jeon Jae-yong) said, 'When he opened the box, it was full of safe deposit box keys, and each safe was filled with bonds.'"

Park Byung-gil, the producer of Sisajikgyeok, appeared on KBS1TV's The Live on the 17th and revealed Ms. Choi's voice, stating, "We met a witness who actually saw the slush fund and were able to broadcast that part."

At that time, Ms. Choi testified, "My father-in-law's house in Yeonhui-dong was full of old 10,000 won bills, and because they were secretly hidden, bugs even gathered on the money," and "The daughters-in-law gathered and mixed new 10,000 won bills with the old ones to make new bundles of money," shocking viewers. Ms. Choi married Jeon Jae-yong, the second son of former President Jeon Du-hwan, in 1992 and divorced in 2007.

Jeon Woo-won, the grandson of former President Jeon Du-hwan, is honoring the victims of the uprising at a memorial ceremony held on the morning of the 17th at the National 5·18 Democratic Cemetery in Unjeong-dong, Buk-gu, Gwangju.
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Meanwhile, Jeon Jae-guk, the eldest son of former President Jeon Du-hwan who disowned Jeon Woo-won, has been barred from performing his duties as CEO of the book distribution company Bookplus, which he effectively owns, after being found guilty of breach of trust by the court.

The 11th Civil Division of the Goyang Branch of Uijeongbu District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Do-yo) accepted a provisional injunction on the 19th, filed by A, the largest shareholder of Bookplus, against debtor Jeon Jae-guk and Kim, seeking suspension of CEO duties and appointment of a proxy.

The court recognized three main breach of trust charges against Jeon: ▲ personal use of corporate credit cards ▲ opaque financial transactions with the affiliate company Careplus ▲ opaque financial transactions between Kim, who served as CEO from 2018 to 2019, and Bookplus.