Ministry of Justice Confirms Kwon Do-hyung's Extradition to the U.S.

The Ministry of Justice announced on the 31st that the Montenegrin authorities have extradited Kwon Do-hyung, a key figure in the 'Terra·Luna' crash incident, to the U.S. Department of Justice.

After Kwon was arrested in Montenegro, the Ministry of Justice filed an extradition request on March 24 of last year, the day after his arrest, and made efforts for his repatriation to Korea through local visits to Montenegro, working-level consultations, and submission of opinions.

Accordingly, from March to September of last year, the first and second instance courts in Montenegro ruled that Kwon should be extradited to the Republic of Korea.

However, in September of this year, the Montenegrin Supreme Court finally ruled that "when there are competing extradition requests, the Minister of Justice must decide the country to which the criminal will be extradited," and referred the case to the Ministry of Justice. On the same day, the Montenegrin Minister of Justice extradited Kwon to the U.S. side.

The Ministry of Justice stated, "We will continue to closely cooperate with the U.S. side to ensure that the criminal receives punishment commensurate with his guilt in both countries, and also thoroughly recover the criminal proceeds obtained from this crime, while continuously striving to restore the victims' damages."