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South Korea Asks Interpol to Issue 'Red Notice' for Terra Co-Founder Do Kwon: Report

Authorities in Singapore confirm that Kwon is no longer in the city-state, while he maintains he’s not “on the run.”

Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon (Terra)
Terraform Labs co-founder Do Kwon (Terra)

The Financial Times is reporting that authorities in South Korea are said to be asking Interpol to issue a "red notice" for Do Kwon, the co-founder of the now-defunct stablecoin issuer Terraform Labs, as his current location is unknown.

It was believed that Kwon, whose blockchain network collapsed, in May, was in Singapore, but on Saturday, the Singapore Police Force confirmed to the press that Kwon was no longer in the city-state.

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A Red Notice is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender or similar legal action.

Kwon tweeted that he is not on the run and is in “full cooperation” with authorities and has “nothing to hide.” He also said that unless “we are friends, have plans to meet, or are involved in a GPS-based Web3 game you have no business knowing my GPS coordinates.”

Last week, South Korean prosecutors issued an arrest warrant for Kwon on charges of fraud after the prices of his network's stablecoin, UST, and the related native LUNA token crashed in May, sending the broader crypto market into a tailspin. The country moved to invalidate his passport days after it issued the arrest warrant.

A red notice is a request for law enforcement worldwide to locate and arrest the named individual and hold that person until extradition proceedings can begin. The notice is sent to police forces in 195 countries worldwide

Interpol didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

(UPDATE Sept. 19, 2022 19:50 UTC) – Defines "red notice."


Sam Reynolds

Sam Reynolds is a senior reporter based in Asia. Sam was part of the CoinDesk team that won the 2023 Gerald Loeb award in the breaking news category for coverage of FTX's collapse. Prior to CoinDesk, he was a reporter with Blockworks and a semiconductor analyst with IDC.

Sam Reynolds