Political retaliation or wheels of justice? Parties clash over former President Moon's listing as bribery suspect

Rival parties on Monday clashed over the listing of former President Moon Jae-in as a bribery suspect in an investigation into the preferential appointment of his estranged son-in-law as an airline executive.

Former President Moon Jae-in, left, and his wife Kim Jung-sook clap during an event held in Pyeongsan Village in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang, on April 16. [NEWS1]

Rival parties on Monday clashed over the listing of former President Moon Jae-in as a bribery suspect in an investigation into the preferential appointment of his estranged son-in-law as an airline executive.

During a supreme council meeting held at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, the liberal Democratic Party (DP) floor leader Park Chan-dae criticized the investigation, describing it as “political retaliation.”

“We strongly condemn the government, which shows no concern for the lives of the people, particularly in a situation where countless patients are struggling to find emergency rooms, but is instead solely focused on political revenge,” Park said.

The DP floor leader regarded the prosecution’s investigation as a “typical attempt to humiliate a former president” and a “deceptive maneuver” to divert public attention from the government’s failures.

“The suspicions surrounding first lady Kim Keon Hee’s alleged stock manipulation and the luxury handbag scandal will not disappear with such actions,” he added.

The Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office listed Moon as a bribery suspect in a search warrant issued last Friday to raid the residence of his daughter, Moon Da-hye. The raid occurred as part of an investigation into suspicions that Moon Da-hye’s 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.

According to the search warrant, prosecutors believe 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 DP lawmaker Lee Sang-jik.

Seo was appointed executive director at Thai Eastar Jet in July 2018, shortly after Lee, a two-term former DP lawmaker, 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 appointment.

According to prosecutors, Moon's daughter is accused of receiving 50 million won through her bank account from an acquaintance of her mother, Kim Jung-sook. Additionally, prosecutors suspect she received some 250 million won from a publishing company that published Moon’s autobiography after his term.

The inclusion of the former president as a bribery suspect has fueled speculation that he may be summoned for questioning, according to legal sources.

“While it is tragic that presidents are repeatedly investigated after their terms, we cannot halt a legitimate investigation that is being carried out according to the law and regulations,” PPP floor leader Choo Kyung-ho said during the party’s supreme council meeting on Monday.

He further questioned the DP’s concerns over the investigation, saying that if the former president is indeed clean, his innocence will be “naturally proven during the investigation and trial process.”

Meanwhile, the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office is investigating former first lady Kim’s alleged business trip to the Taj Mahal in India in November 2018. She is accused of illegally using 400 million won from the contingency fund for the trip, to which she requested an invitation from the Indian government.

Additionally, the prosecution is investigating accusations that Kim used taxpayers' money to purchase a Chanel jacket during the president’s trip to France in 2018.

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