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Former President Moon Jae-in indicted without detention on bribery charges

Published: 24 Apr. 2025, 09:53 Updated: 24 Apr. 2025, 15:26

LIM JEONG-WON
[email protected]

Former President Moon Jae-in is seen at the Blue House on Jan. 31, 2020. [YONHAP]

Prosecutors indicted former President Moon Jae-in on charges of bribery on Thursday, the prosecution announced the same day.

The indictment, which was handed down without detention, concerns allegations of the preferential hiring of Moon’s ex-son-in-law, a man surnamed Seo, at an airline, as well as bribery charges in relation to the same case.

The indictment against Moon came about three years and five months since a civic group filed the first complaint in December 2021.

The Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Moon without detention on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes.

Prosecutors also brought former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, founder of airline Eastar Jet, to trial on charges of bribery and breach of trust.

The indictments for Moon Jae-in’s daughter Moon Da-hye and Seo were suspended.

The trial for Moon Jae-in will be held in Seoul, as prosecutors filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Court.

Moon Da-hye, daughter of former President Moon Jae-in, arrives at the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo District, western Seoul, on April 17. [NEWS1]

The indictment document states that Moon Jae-in conspired with Moon Da-hye and Seo to hire Seo as an executive of Thai Eastar Jet, an overseas corporation of Eastar Jet owned by Lee.

Seo allegedly received approximately 150 million won ($104,900) in salary and 65 million won in housing expense from Thai Eastar Jet from August 2018 to March 2020.

Prosecutors determined that Moon Jae-in had directly benefited from this amount of money since he stopped providing living expenses to daughter Moon Da-hye and Seo due to Seo's employment.

Prosecutors also revealed that during the investigation, it was confirmed that the Office of the Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs, the Blue House special inspection bureau and the Presidential Security Service (PSS) were deeply involved in Moon Da-hye and Seo's overseas relocation, with officials from the various presidential organizations providing contact information for local real estate agents in Thailand and for international schools.

Former President Moon Jae-in, left, speaks to former South Gyeongsang Governor Kim Kyoung-soo as Kim visited Moon's residence in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang on April 14. [NEWS1]

Prosecutors also added that the PSS had reported to Moon Jae-in a plan for local security for Moon Da-hye, Seo and their family in Thailand since June 2018, before Seo's employment, and that the overseas security measures actually took place.

“The core of this case is that the former president exercised his comprehensive authority and received special benefits for the overseas emigration of his children and spouses through an airline controlled by Lee, a politician and businessman,” said a prosecutor involved in the case.

Moon Jae-in's attorneys issued a statement through the Democratic Party (DP) after the announcement of the indictment Thursday, denouncing it as "an illegal indictment that abuses the political prosecution's powers."

"The indictment from the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office does not mention any specific facts about what crimes Moon Jae-in committed and seriously damages his reputation by announcing false investigation facts as if he had committed a corruption crime using his presidential term," the statement said. "The accusation that Moon Jae-in had conspired with Moon Dae-hye and Seo is completely untrue."

Lawmakers of the Democratic Party's committee for countermeasures against political suppression hold an emergency press conference following former President Moon Jae-in's indictment without detention by prosecutors, at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul on April 24. [YONHAP]

Moon Jae-in's attorneys also denied that the former president had received any improper request from lawmaker Lee for Seo's employment at Thai Eastar Jet, and argued that Seo, as having majored in hotel management and served in a manager-level position at large corporations before his employment at the airline, had "sufficient qualifications" for employment.

"The prosecution’s indictment of Moon appears to be an abuse of prosecutorial authority, aimed not at legal accountability, but at drawing false parallels between Moon and former President Yoon Suk Yeol, who is currently on trial for insurrection, in a politically motivated maneuver by prosecutors aligned with Yoon," the statement said.

The DP on Thursday also strongly condemned the prosecution’s decision to indict Moon, calling it a “forced indictment” and labeling prosecutors a “gang of political thugs.”

DP spokesperson Park Kyung-mee issued a written statement denouncing the move as a "blatant abuse of prosecutorial power," saying it would be remembered in history as "a politically motivated attempt to humiliate a former president and damage the party's reputation."

Moon Jae-in's daughter Moon Da-hye was fined a week earlier after being found guilty of driving under the influence and running an unlicensed lodging business.

BY LIM JEONG-WON [[email protected]]