ISTANBUL

South Korea's top court on Thursday ordered the family of the country's late President Chun Doo-hwan to pay damages for factual distortions in his memoir about the 1980 pro-democracy uprising in Gwangju and for defaming a late witness who testified about the military's bloody crackdown on the movement, local media reported.

The Supreme Court ruled against the late dictator and his son, Chun Jae-guk, over the memoir published in 2017, and banned it from being published or distributed unless the distorted expressions are deleted, Seoul-based Yonhap News reported.

The memoir, according to the ruling, contains false information denying that martial law troops fired upon civilians aboard a helicopter during the movement that began on May 18, 1980.

The court ordered Chun's wife, Lee Soon-ja, and his son to pay 60 million won ($41,600) in total to four groups dedicated to remembering the uprising and 10 million won ($6,935) to a nephew of the late priest Cho Pius, who testified to witnessing the helicopter shooting.

The late president, in his memoir, dubbed the pro-democracy uprising a "riot" and described himself as a "sacrificial offering" in the aftermath of the movement, prompting the May 18 organizations and the late priest's nephew to file the damages suit.

The pro-democracy uprising erupted as citizens gathered to stand up against a military junta, led by Chun, who sent troops to the city to crack down on civilians.

Chun, who came into power through a military coup in 1979, died in November 2021.