SEOUL (AFP) – Disgraced former South Korean president Chun Doo-Hwan, who was ordered to repay millions of dollars illegally amassed while in office, has made a small payment to avoid an assets seizure, a prosecutor said Friday.

The ex-general seized power in a coup in 1979 and served until the advent of democracy in 1988.

He was convicted of mutiny in 1996, sentenced to death -- later commuted to life imprisonment -- and ordered to repay 220 billion won (now 197 million dollars) amassed during his presidency.

Chun was pardoned a year later but the court order for restitution remains in force. He has so far paid 53.3 billion won of the total in a series of payments over the past 13 years.

Prosecutors planned to impound Chun's assets to force him to pay the rest before a deadline next June.

But Chun, who once told the court that his remaining wealth totals a mere 291,000 won, paid an instalment of three million won on Monday.

This automatically extends the payment deadline to October 2013.

"As we were about to impound some of his assets, Chun paid part of the fines to avoid the action," a Seoul prosecution official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"We are making efforts to induce Chun to voluntarily pay off the fines," another prosecutor was quoted as telling JoongAng Ilbo newspaper.

Chun staged his coup in 1979 by taking advantage of a political vacuum left by the assassination of president Park Chung-Hee.

His troops brutally cracked down on pro-democracy protesters in the southern city of Kwangju the following year, resulting in more than 200 deaths.