Key witness called to testify at Terra parliamentary inquiry is a no-show

The CEO of venture capital firm Hashed and early Terra (LUNC) investor Kim Seo-joon has cited “extreme stress” following the Terra crash as the reason for his no-show at South Korea’s National Assembly's Political Affairs Committee.

Seo-joon was one of six people selected to take part in the South Korean parliament’s latest inquiry to better understand the events that led to the infamous $40 billion wipe out of Terra’s cryptocurrencies, according to an Oct. 24 article from the Korea Economic Daily.

According to a letter from Seo-joon, he suffered severe mental harm from the following the sudden collapse of LUNC and the de-pegging of its associated algorithmic stablecoin TerraClassicUSD (USTC), writing:

"Since the Luna-Terra crash occurred, I have been suffering from anxiety disorder and panic disorder due to extreme mental stress."

In addition to the letter submitted to the National Assembly, Seo-joon attached an expert opinion and medical certificate which stated that he’d been hospitalized and received psychiatrist treatment since Jul. 29.

Medication and counseling treatment were also said to have worsened Seo-joon’s anxiety, who is “in absolute need of emotional stability at this time," according to the expert opinion.

A few months after the infamous LUNC collapse, Seo-joon disclosed that Hashed had suffered a $3.6 billion loss from its peak value in late April, having owned 30 million LUNC tokens, according to an August interview with Bloomberg.

Earlier this month, the chairman of the South Korean exchange Bithumb, Lee Jung-hoon also failed to attend the parliamentary hearing on Oct. 6, citing a panic disorder as the reason for his no-show.

Related: South Korean authorities raid 15 entities linked to Terra collapse

Other witnesses called in various stages of the inquiry include Bithumb major shareholder Kang Jong-hyun, CEO of Dunamu which runs South Korea’s largest crypto exchange UpBit Lee Seok-woo, Chai Holdco Director Shin Hyun-sung, and Terraform Labs co-founder Daniel Shin.

Terra CEO and co-founder Do Kwon was not listed to be inquired by Korea’s Political Affairs Committee — as law enforcement units throughout the globe continue to try track his whereabouts.