Kim Seo-Joon, a significant witness called to testify in the Terra parliamentary inquiry, did not appear, citing “extreme stress,” according to the local South Korean news outlet Korea Economic Daily. Seo-Joon is the CEO of the venture capital firm Hashed and a pioneering investor in Terra (LUNC, formerly LUNA). Seo-Joon stated “extreme stress” as a justification for missing the investigation.
According to the news report, Seo-Joon is one of the six individuals chosen to take part in the Terra collapse investigation by the South Korean parliament. The South Korean government is attempting to comprehend what transpired to cause the LUNA and UST currencies to lose $40 billion.
To explain his absence, Seo-Joon wrote a letter to the national assembly. He claimed that he had a significant mental collapse after the sudden demise of LUNC (formerly LUNA) and the de-pegging of its related algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD (USTC). He declared,
“I have been suffering from anxiety disorder and panic disorder due to extreme mental stress.”
Seo-Joon also sent a professional evaluation and a medical certificate confirming that he had been hospitalized since July 29 and was undergoing therapy from a psychiatrist along with his letter. Seo-Joon is “in desperate need of emotional stability at this moment,” in the professional’s opinion, and it was claimed that both medicine and counseling treatment made his anxiousness worse.
Seo-Joon claimed that Hashed had lost $3.6 billion from its peak value in late April in an interview with Bloomberg in August. The company held 30 million LUNC (at the time, LUNA) tokens.
Fate Of The Other Witness In Terra Case
Seo-Joon is not the first witness to cancel on the investigation. On October 6, the parliamentary session was also missed by Lee Jung-hoon, the chairman of the South Korean exchange Bithumb. According to Jung-hoon, his panic issue prevented him from attending the investigation. And if that weren’t enough, Jung-hoon is currently facing a maximum sentence of 8 years in jail for a $70 million scam.
Other witnesses who have provided testimony throughout the Terra investigation include Kang Jong-hyun, a significant Bithumb shareholder, CEO of Dunamu, the organisation that runs UpBit, South Korea’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, Lee Seok-woo, Chai Holdco Director Shin Hyun-sung, and Terraform Labs Co-Founder Daniel Shin.
Do Kwon, the chief of Terra, is not on the assembly’s list of people to question. However, international law enforcement agencies keep looking for the now-famous creator.