Why Do Kwon’s Extradition to The US Looks More Likely

Terraform Labs founder Do Kwon’s extradition to the U.S. is looking far more likely, after the High Court of Montenegro has handed the final say in the matter to the country’s Justice Minister Andrej Milovic.

South Korean media outlet Yonhap News Agency reported that Podgorica High Court has once again approved Kwon’s extradition, but this time has ruled that Milovic would make the decision on which country to extradite him to. 

Although Milovic’s choice was not immediately clear at the time of writing, his statements in the past suggest that he might be leaning towards approving Kwon’s extradition to the U.S.

Milovic reportedly called that decision a political one, in a television interview with the Vijesti channel, as reported by Balkan Insight in November.

“The US is our main foreign policy partner. We want to sign a bilateral extradition agreement as soon as possible, to create a legal framework for future extraditions,” said Milovic in November. 

After Kwon’s arrest in Montenegro last March, the prosecutors in the U.S. and South Korea were quick to bring charges against the former TFL CEO. The process of extraditing him to face those charges, however, has been a far slower process than most would have anticipated, with the verdict changing at least seven times.

Most recently, the Montenegrin Supreme Court overturned a decision to extradite Kwon to South Korea, after the country’s top prosecutor challenged the process by which the decision was made, criticizing the “abbreviated” proceedings. 

Although Kwon faces similar charges from South Korean and U.S authorities, legal experts say that the former Terraform Labs CEO will likely face a much lighter sentence if he were to face trial in his native country.