South Korean Prosecutors Confident of Do Kwon’s Extradition to S.Korea

• Both S.Korea and the United States have requested that Montenegro extradite Do Kwon.
• The extradition decision would be made after the passport fraud case.

On Friday, South Korean prosecutors called for the extradition of Terra’s creator, Do Kwon, who is now on trial in Montenegro. Having spent more time on the investigation and gathering of evidence than the United States, prosecutors are in the strongest position to seek justice for victims who lost about $40 billion during the Terra-LUNA catastrophe. 

The head of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutor’s Office, Dan Sung-han, reportedly told the WSJ on May 5 that Terra co-founder Do Kwon should be extradited to South Korea rather than the United States. According to him, South Korean prosecutors have the most prepared case since that’s where the majority of the evidence and Terra affiliates are.

Both South Korea and the United States have requested that Montenegro extradite Do Kwon. In March, he was arrested and charged with using forged travel credentials to board an aircraft to Dubai.

The extradition decision would be made in a separate court process after the passport fraud case, Minister of Justice Marko Kovac of Montenegro said on March 29. The extradition process also takes into account the seriousness of the crime, the place where it was committed, the timeliness of the demands, and the nationality of the accused.

Prosecutors in South Korea made a second attempt to have co-founder Daniel Shin arrested. No danger of flight or destruction of evidence led the court to deny the prosecution’s request for an arrest order. Prosecutors in South Korea have been monitoring Terra’s financial dealings and have discovered that Do Kwon still has millions of dollars’ worth of Bitcoin stashed in a Swiss bank.