Tag: Moon Jae-in

It looks like former President Moon may continue the tradition of former Korean presidents going to jail:

Former President Moon Jae-in was indicted without detention Thursday on charges of bribery, according to the Jeonju District Prosecutor’s Office.

Moon has been accused of allowing his former son-in-law to receive preferential treatment in securing a job with an airline. Almost 220 million won ($154,000) in salary and relocation expenses to Thailand were paid between July 2018 and April 2020, which constituted a de facto bribe to the former president, according to the prosecution.

Prosecutors launched an investigation into former President Moon Jae-in’s alleged involvement in the case after Seoul-based civic group Justice People filed a complaint in December 2021, alleging a possible quid pro quo involving Moon, his former son-in-law, identified by the surname Seo, and Lee Sang-jik — a former two-term lawmaker from the then-ruling Democratic Party and founder of budget airline Eastar Jet.

Prosecutors pinpointed Lee as the source of the alleged bribe and confirmed that Seo’s appointment as executive director of Thai Eastar Jet was made despite his lack of airline industry experience and the company’s financial struggles. A separate civil affairs team under Moon’s presidential office was involved in the process, the prosecution claims.

“Seo frequently left his post for extended periods, flew to South Korea or worked remotely. He did not provide proper labor befitting his position as the executive director. But Seo received a monthly salary of 8 million won, almost twice the salary of the airline’s CEO,” the Jeonju District Prosecutor’s Office said in a press release.

Korea Herald

You can read more at the link, but this was clearly a quid pro quo for his son-in-law to get this job he was not qualified for and apparently put little effort into. With that said imagine if the U.S. had the same corruption laws as Korea? Former president Joe Biden would be getting prosecuted for all the money his son has been making off of his dad’s name and position. Instead you have a whole political party and media establishment covering for him.

Moon is correct that if he did not pick Yoon as his prosecutor general he would not have had the name recognition to compete for the Presidency:

Former President Moon Jae-in expressed regret over his decision to appoint President Yoon Suk Yeol as prosecutor general in 2019, a move that ultimately paved the way for Yoon’s rise to political stardom.

In a rare interview published on Monday, Moon, who has been critical of his successor’s governance, admitted that the appointment played a role in the formation of the Yoon administration.

“There are many things I regret throughout the (appointment) process, but ultimately, the fact that our administration led to the creation of the Yoon Suk Yeol government is something we cannot distance ourselves from. Of course, I bear the greatest responsibility for that. I sincerely regret any distress this has caused to the public,” Moon said in an interview with The Hankyoreh, a center-left daily newspaper in Korea.

“Even before the declaration of martial law, the Yoon government was performing poorly. I felt a deep sense of self-reproach for having handed over power to such individuals. And now, with the impeachment motion and the martial law crisis, the extent of this feeling is indescribable,” he said.

This interview marked the former liberal president’s first official media appearance since he handed power to Yoon in May 2022.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Here is an update on the embattled daughter of former President Moon:

Prosecutors on Wednesday indicted former President Moon Jae-in’s daughter without physical detention over alleged drunk driving and illegally operating a house-sharing business.

Moon Da-hye collided with a taxi in Seoul’s Itaewon district while trying to change lanes on Oct 5. Her blood alcohol concentration was measured at 0.149 percent at the time, exceeding the 0.08 percent threshold for driver’s license revocation.

She is also accused of running an Airbnb business without official registration at three locations, comprising a studio apartment and villa in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo district, and a house on the southern resort island of Jeju.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

I think for Moon Da-hye, illegal parking and running a red light is probably the least of her legal troubles at this point:

A  vehicle reportedly driven by Moon Da-hye appears to enter an intersection in Yongsan District, central Seoul. Moon disregarded traffic signals while allegedly under the influence of alcohol on Saturday, according to camera footage. [SCREEN CAPTURE]

Former President Moon Jae-in’s daughter, accused of drunk driving in Itaewon, Yongsan District, is also suspected of illegally parking her car for hours in the area, according to media reports on Monday.

Moon Da-hye, daughter of the former president, is accused of parking her Hyundai Casper — a small SUV — in front of a construction site in Itaewon, close to a busy street and several restaurants.  
  
According to the Yongsan District Office, the area is marked with a yellow dotted line, which prohibits drivers from parking in the space for more than five minutes. If she had been caught, she would have faced a fine of 40,000 won ($30). 
  
Moon is suspected of parking her car at 6:57 p.m. Friday before heading to a nearby restaurant. The car remained parked for about seven hours until she returned at around 2:15 a.m. on Saturday, allegedly inebriated. 
  
She is also accused of driving through a red light and making an improper left turn at an intersection. She then collided with a taxi while changing lanes in front of the Hamilton Hotel in Itaewon at 2:51 a.m., according to Yongsan police. 
  
Moon has been booked on charges of drunk driving in violation of the Road Traffic Act. Her blood alcohol level was reportedly 0.14 percent, significantly above the legal limit of 0.08 percent, which is the threshold for revoking a driver’s license.

Joong Ang Ilbo

You can read more at the link.

More legal problems for the Moon family:

Lawmakers from the ruling People Power Party criticized former President Moon Jae-in’s daughter Sunday after she was booked the previous night for driving under the influence (DUI) of alcohol.

Rep. Kim Jang-kyom said in a Facebook post that Moon Da-hye should have listened to what her father said during his time in office that drunk driving amounts to an act of murder. 

“The one who lived together with her at Cheong Wa Dae said drunk driving amounts to murder,” Kim said, referring to the former presidential compound. “Even though her father said a lot of nonsense, she should listen to what she should listen to.” (……..)

According to police, Moon Da-hye’s car collided with a taxi while she was changing lanes in the Itaewon neighborhood of Seoul’s Yongsan district at 2:51 a.m., causing minor injuries to the taxi driver. Her blood alcohol concentration was reportedly measured at 0.14 percent, well above the 0.08 percent threshold for license revocation.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but Moon Da-hye is in more legal trouble than just this DUI. When Moon was elected President Moon Da-hye and her now ex-husband moved to Thailand for an executive position with T’Way Airlines. A position he had no experience or qualifications to attain. Coincidentally the owner of T’Way was later appointed to a high ranking government position. Prosecutors are investigating former President Moon for bribery to determine if his son-in-law was given the executive job in return for T’Way’s owner getting the government position.

The Korean Democratic Party continues to show what a bunch of hypocrites they are:

Ruling People Power Party floor leader, Choo Kyung-ho left, speaks during the party’s Supreme Council meeting at the National Assembly in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap

The Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) has decided to actively respond to the prosecution’s ongoing bribery investigation involving former President Moon Jae-in, condemning it as a “petty act of political retaliation,” party members said Monday.

In strong opposition to the investigation, the main opposition party is considering forming a countermeasures committee. (……..)

“When former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak were imprisoned, and numerous figures from the conservative camp were detained during the early days of the Moon Jae-in administration, the DPK fervently supported these actions, calling them ‘clearing deep-rooted evils.’ Now that they are the opposition, they label similar actions as ‘political retaliation.’ Few will sympathize with the party’s double standards,” Choo said.

The prosecution has been investigating allegations of a quid pro quo involving Moon’s former son-in-law, who was appointed to an executive position at a low-cost carrier founded by former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik despite lacking experience in the aviation industry. 

The prosecutional inquiry is focused on whether this appointment was linked to former Rep. Lee’s appointment as head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency in March 2018 during Moon’s presidency. Moon’s son-in-law, surnamed Seo, was hired four months after Lee assumed leadership of the agency.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Former President Moon is not happy about the criticism his administration has received from the current President:

 Former President Moon Jae-in has said his administration established a system to counter North Korean drone infiltrations, according to officials of the main opposition Democratic Party.

Moon made the remarks when DP leaders visited his home in the southeastern city of Yangsan on Monday, apparently in response to criticism from President Yoon Suk Yeol that the North’s recent drone infiltration revealed how Seoul’s military readiness and exercises have been “greatly lacking” over the years.

“Former President Moon said the government had introduced radars and prepared substantially with regard to countering drones,” a DP official who met Moon on Monday told Yonhap News Agency.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link, but I have seen no one criticizing the detection capability. Clearly the ROK military did a good job detecting the drones which Moon’s administration should be given credit for acquiring. However, the inability to shoot them down to include crashing one of their own aircraft is what the criticism of the ROK military has been about.