Do Kwon Mocks Interpol Red Notice

Do Kwon, founder of the failed cryptocurrency Terra, is rebutting reports that the Interpol seeks his arrest.

South Korean authorities confirmed over the weekend that the Interpol issued a request worldwide to locate and arrest him for charges relating to Terra’s collapse. 

But Do Kwon said in tweets on Monday that he was “writing code” in his living room and “making zero effort to hide.” 

“I go on walks and malls,” he said, adding that there was no chance the crypto Twitter community hadn’t run into him in the past few weeks.

He also suggested the Interpol hasn’t actually issued a Red Notice in his name. 

A Red Notice can be used to prevent an individual from fleeing prior to an extradition request being issued. The fact that a target’s name may not appear on a publicly available list does not offer any clues as to its veracity, according to agency guidelines.

An Interpol spokesperson told Blockworks that the agency doesn’t comment on specific cases and individuals.

“Please note separately that the majority of Red Notices are not made public and are restricted to law enforcement use only,” the spokesperson added.

Earlier this month, South Korean officials had issued arrest warrants for the 31-year-old crypto founder and his key associates. They were believed to be residing in Singapore at the time. His Twitter bio also shows Singapore as his location. But Singapore police say Do Kwon is no longer there. 

Addressing reports about his potential arrest, Do Kwon said he was “not on the run” and that he was open to cooperating with authorities interested in communicating. “We are in the process of defending ourselves in multiple jurisdictions — we have held ourselves to an extremely high bar of integrity, and look forward to clarifying the truth over the next few months,” he said.

Do Kwon will have to be repatriated to South Korea if he is arrested anywhere else. Singapore doesn’t feature on South Korea’s list of 31 countries with which it maintains bilateral extradition treaties. That means unless the Terraform founder gives himself up for prosecution, he can buy time and avoid arrest if he is indeed in the city-state.

In an interview with Coinage last month, Do Kwon said it was “kind of hard” to go back to South Korea because he wasn’t in touch with investigators. “They’ve never charged us with anything. They haven’t reached out to us at all,” he said.

---

Get the news in your inbox. Explore Blockworks newsletters:

• The Breakdown: Decoding crypto and the markets. Daily.
• Empire: Crypto news and analysis to start your day.
• Forward Guidance: The intersection of crypto, macro and policy.
• 0xResearch: Alpha directly in your inbox.
• Lightspeed: All things Solana.
• The Drop: Apps, games, memes and more.
• Supply Shock: Bitcoin, bitcoin, bitcoin.