Grandson of late South Korean dictator begins webtoon telling of family abuse, repression

The grandson of late strongman Chun Doo Hwan began an AI-generated webtoon series on his Instagram account, seemingly based on his story of being abused by his father and oppressed by his grandparents.

Chun Woo-won, left, the grandson of former President Chun Doo Hwan, began a new online webtoon series on his Instagram account, right, on Dec. 4. The captured webtoon shows the main character's grandfather, likely Chun Doo Hwan, abusing the young child. [JOINT PRESS CORPS, SCREEN CAPTURE]

The grandson of late strongman Chun Doo Hwan began an AI-generated webtoon series on his Instagram account, seemingly based on his story of being abused by his father and oppressed by his grandparents.

Chun Woo-won, also known as Jamie Chun, was born as the son of the late President Chun's third son, Chun Jae-yong, in 1996. He came to public attention when he began exposing the dirt on his family on his Instagram account in 2023, accusing them of crimes and other misdeeds.

The latest updates focus more on his own life — his relationship with his parents, grandparents and peers — especially the circumstances that led him to become a substance abuser to cope with the psychological stress he had to endure.

In the webtoon, he is portrayed as a cute, innocent white sheep, while his parents and grandparents are illustrated as gray, red-eyed sheep with evil expressions. The latest episode revolves around his days in the United States, where he struggled to make friends due to cultural differences.

An online webtoon series by Chun Woo-won, the grandson of former President Chun Doo Hwan, posted on his Instagram account, starting on Dec. 4, 2025, shows Chun Woo-won's account of his abusive childhood. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

An online webtoon series by Chun Woo-won, the grandson of former President Chun Doo Hwan, posted on his Instagram account depicting how he found out about his grandfather's past misdeeds [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Chun Doo Hwan took power in a military coup in 1979 and was known for his dictatorship and bloody crackdown on the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in the southwestern city of Gwangju. He was convicted of treason, murder and bribetaking in 1996 and asked to pay a forfeiture of over 220 billion won ($150 million). Some 128.2 billion won in assets were seized by the government the following year, but Chun was unable to make up the remaining penalty until he died, claiming he had only 290,000 won.

Chun Doo Hwan died in November 2021. In a 2023 phone call with the JoongAng Ilbo, Chun Woo-won's father claimed that his son "has been sick for a long time."

BY YOON SO-YEON [yoon.soyeon@joongang.co.kr]