Government Revokes Honors for 167 Individuals Including 'Torture Technician' Lee Geun-an

[Anchor]

The government has revoked government honors awarded to 167 individuals involved in unconstitutional acts, including the December 12 military insurrection and the suppression of the democratization movement. The list includes soldiers who took commemorative photos with Chun Doo-hwan immediately after the December 12 military insurrection, high-ranking police officers who tortured and killed activist Park Jong-cheol, and the notorious 'torture technician' Lee Geun-an.

Reporter Yun Nara has the story.

[Reporter]

Kang Min-chang, then-Director General of the National Police Headquarters, and Park Cho-won, then-Senior Superintendent General, appeared at a press conference regarding the 1987 torture and death of Park Jong-cheol.

[Movie "1987": "When the investigator slammed the desk, he just gasped and died."]

The four government honors, including medals, awarded to these two individuals who downplayed and covered up the incident have been revoked. Also cancelled is the commendation awarded to former police inspector Lee Geun-an, a 'torture technician' who tortured former lawmaker Kim Geun-tae.

[Movie "12.12: The Day" (Seoul Spring): "If it fails, it's treason; if it succeeds, it's a revolution!"]

Three individuals who played a leading role in the December 12 military insurrection, to the extent that they took commemorative photos with the ringleader Chun Doo-hwan immediately after the event, have also had their medals revoked. They are then-Brigadier General Baek Woon-taek, then-Colonel Jo Hong, and then-Lieutenant Colonel Choi Seok-rip.

The government held a cabinet meeting this morning (July 21) and approved a motion to cancel 198 inappropriate government honors awarded to 167 people involved in unconstitutional acts and the fabrication of espionage cases.

The cancellations include 76 military service medals awarded to individuals involved in the December 12 military insurrection, the suppression of the May 18 Democratization Movement, and martial law-related activities, as well as 122 medals, orders of merit, presidential commendations, and prime ministerial commendations awarded to 91 people involved in cases such as the fabrication of espionage.

Among the recipients of military service medals, those whose awards were based on false merits without actual contributions, or who received honors by fabricating espionage cases, were included in the cancellation list.

This is the third time this year that the government has revoked inappropriate government honors.

[Kim Young-soo / Director of the Decorations and Awards Division, Ministry of the Interior and Safety: The government plans to continue identifying and actively revoking government honors that were received based on inappropriate merits.]

However, the government stated that it could not recover the prize money paid along with the honors because there are no legal provisions for such recovery, adding that it would review potential supplementary measures.

(Video reporting: Jo Chun-dong, Kim Heung-ki | Video editing: Jung Sung-hoon)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.