South Korea Requests the Extradition of Terra Luna Co-Founder, Do Kwon from Montenegro

South Korea is requesting the extradition of Terra co-founder, Do Kwon. Still, suppose he is convicted of the charges of forced identification documents into Montenegro. In that case, he may have to serve time there before there are any possibilities of being deported by South Korea or the United States, who have also requested his extradition. 

There are reports that the United States and South Korean authorities have been trying to deport the co-founder since his arrest. It is only possible once the authorities in Montenegro finish their investigation.

During a press conference held earlier in the week, the justice minister for Montenegro, Marko Kovač, announced to the general public that the United States had reached out with diplomatic efforts to request Do Kwon’s handover. At the same time, South Korean officials also asked the same thing. 

The Justice Minister announced the arrest of the Terra co-founder at the country’s Podgorica airport on March 23rd. They also added information about their intentions to detain him for 30 days. 

Montenegro also informed that in a case where several requests of extradition are made, determining which state the extradition is approved for hinges on several factors like the seriousness of the criminal offense and location and time at which the criminal committed said crime, and the order in which the extradition request was received.

The high court of Montenegro would handle the decision regarding Do Kwon’s case. According to Marko, Do Kwon got into the country with a forged passport and could serve time for the related charges if convicted before any extradition request is granted.

The location of the Terra co-founder has been unknown since the collapse of Terra back in May 2022, and although he was active on social media platforms like Twitter, making claims that he had no intention to hide. Reports came out in February that there was a possibility that Do was in Serbia. This European country borders Montenegro to the North after Interpol issued a red notice for his arrest. 

As a citizen of South Korea, the Terra co-founder would have to face prosecution in his country, where the headquarters of Terraform Labs is located. The authorities in the country have been going after other individuals that had a hand in the collapse of the crypto.

Conclusion

It is still being determined what country’s extradition request for Do Kwon would be granted by Montenegro, and even when it is eventually given, there is no certainty that it will be anytime soon. 

The Terra co-founder is to be detained for 30 days, during which the high court will charge him according to the laws he broke in the country, and it would probably see him doing time in the Montenegro jail before he can be extradited to whatever country’s request is granted to face the law there too.