Prosecutors include former President Moon as bribery suspect in Thai Eastar Jet scandal

Politics

Prosecutors include former President Moon as bribery suspect in Thai Eastar Jet scandal

Published: 01 Sep. 2024, 15:59

CHO JUNG-WOO
cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr

Former President Moon Jae-in, right, and his wife Kim Jung-sook attend pianist Lim Yun-chan's recital at Gwangju Arts Center on June 19. [YONHAP]

Prosecutors included former President Moon Jae-in as a bribery suspect in a search warrant issued to raid the residence of his daughter, Moon Da-hye, last Friday, according to legal sources. The prosecution is investigating allegations that the former president accepted bribes worth millions of won amid their investigation into the alleged preferential appointment of Moon's estranged son-in-law as an airline executive.

The Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office said Sunday that it is conducting a “careful” investigation based on the warrants legally issued by the court regarding the alleged favorable support for the former president’s daughter’s move to Thailand, stressing that the investigation is unrelated to any political circumstances.

On Friday, Jeonju prosecutors raided Moon Da-hye's residence in Seoul over allegations that her ex-husband, identified by his surname Seo, was preferentially appointed as an executive director at the Thailand-based budget airline Thai Eastar Jet and that the former presidential couple may have provided financial support to their daughter and her family.

Moon’s daughter is accused of conducting financial transactions with at least three Blue House employees while living in Thailand from 2018 to 2020. Prosecutors are investigating whether the money transferred from the daughter’s bank account included funds from the former president and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, as well as public funds.

According to the search warrant, prosecutors believe that the salaries and housing fees received by Moon’s former son-in-law between July 2018 and April 2020, totaling around 223 million won ($167,000), were allegedly bribes from former Democratic Party (DP) lawmaker Lee Sang-jik.

Seo was appointed executive director at Thai Eastar Jet in July 2018, shortly after two-term former DP lawmaker Lee was appointed head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency in March of the same year.

Lee, the founder of Eastar Jet, a budget carrier in Korea, played a crucial role in establishing the Thailand-based budget carrier. Seo, who had previously worked at a game company, had no experience in the airline industry at the time of his employment.

The liberal Democratic Party holds a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Sunday, criticizing the investigation into former President Moon Jae-in.[YONHAP]

However, former officials of the Moon administration claim that Seo’s employment was not secured in exchange for any favors.

The Jeonju prosecutors summoned minor Rebuilding Korea Party leader Cho Kuk for questioning on Saturday regarding the case. Cho, who served as the senior presidential secretary for civil affairs at the Blue House, was responsible for verifying government officials and managing the president’s family members.

Cho expressed skepticism to reporters on Saturday, questioning whether it was appropriate to investigate the former president for three years, suggesting that the investigation might be an attempt to deflect from allegations against President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee.

Following the raid on Moon’s daughter’s residence, DP leader Lee Jae-myung wrote on social media on Saturday that he “firmly rejects political retaliation.”

"We should keep in mind that retaliation against the previous administration will neither improve livelihoods nor turn the situation around,” he wrote.

Meanwhile, conservative People Power Party spokesperson Jung Kwang-jae emphasized that “no one is exempt from investigation when there is public suspicion,” saying that the enforcement of law in a way that favors a particular individual "cannot take place under the Yoon Suk Yeol administration," which strives for a fair society.

BY KIM JUN-HEE, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]