U.S. seeks $700,000 in illegal proceeds traced to ex-South Korea leader

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday it has sued in court to recover $700,000 (416,567 pounds) in alleged corruption proceeds traced to former South Korean President Chun Doo-Hwan. The money, seized from a California bank account, comes from the sale of a home in Newport Beach, California, that Chun's son bought in 2005 using funds allegedly traced to his father's corruption, the department said. Chun, a general who seized power in a 1979 coup, was convicted in South Korea in 1997 of receiving more than $200 million in bribes. He and his relatives laundered some of the money through shell companies in South Korea and the United States, the Justice Department said. "The U.S. will not be a safe repository for assets misappropriated by corrupt foreign leaders," Bill Lewis, who runs the FBI's Los Angeles office, said in announcing the action. (Reporting by Aruna Viswanatha; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)