Do Kwon’s South Korea Extradition Uncertain After Challenge from Top Prosecutor

Terraform
Labs
co-founder
Do
Kwon’s
pending
extradition
to
South
Korea
has
apparently
been
put
on
ice
following
a
legal
challenge
issued
Thursday
by
Montenegro’s
top
prosecutor.

Montenegro’s
Office
of
the
Supreme
State
Prosecutor
said
that
the
High
Court’s
decision
to
extradite
Kwon
to
his
native
South
Korea
instead
of
to
the
U.S.
– as
well
as
the
appellate
court’s
subsequent
confirmation –
was
done
via
“abbreviated
proceedings”
that
exceeded
the
limits
of
its
powers,
according
to

a
translated
statement
published
Thursday

A
decision
on
permission
for
Kwon’s
extradition
is
to
be
made
solely
by
the
country’s
minister
of
justice,
according
to
the
statement.
Kwon
was
not
directly
named
in
the
statement,
which
simply
refers
to
“a
citizen
of
the
Republic
of
South
Korea.”

Montenegro
was
inadvertently
placed
at
the
center
of
a
tug-of-war
between
the
U.S.
and
South
Korea
a
year
ago,
when
Kwon
and
his
colleague,
Han
Chang-joon,
were
arrested
and
jailed

for
attempting
to
use
fake
Costa
Rican
passports
en
route
to
Dubai.
Kwon’s
arrest
came
six
months
after

Interpol
issued
a
“red
notice”
for
his
arrest
and
10
months
after
the
$40
billion
implosion
of
his
company,
Terraform
Labs,
and
the
Terra
ecosystem.

Kwon
faces
criminal
charges
in
both
the
U.S.
and
South
Korea,
but
he’s

fought
extradition
since
his
arrest,

appealing
several
court
decisions
with

varying

degrees
of
success.

Han
was
extradited
to
South
Korea
in
February,
and
Kwon
looked
poised
to
follow.
His
Montenegrin
lawyer,
Goran
Rodic,
told
CoinDesk
Kwon
was
likely
to
be
extradited
to
South
Korea
after
March
23,
but
that
timeline
– as
well
as
Kwon’s
ultimate
destination
– is
once
again
hazy.

This
is
a
developing
story
and
will
be
updated.