The son of President Moon Jae-in has filed two damages suits against opposition lawmakers and officials of their parties for defaming him with false allegations about his job ahead of the May presidential election last year, prosecution sources said Thursday. 


Moon Joon-yong lodged a suit late last month against incumbent deputy parliamentary speaker Shim Jae-chul of the Liberty Korea Party (LKP) and two others seeking 80 million won (US$74,700) in damages from each. 

Another damages suit, worth 250 million won, has been filed against five current and former members of the People's Party, which subsequently merged with the Bareun Party, according to the sources. 

Moon's lawyer claimed that groundless allegations about his hiring by a local public agency have harmed his reputation. 

In the run-up to the snap election, which followed the ousting of former President Park Geun-hye, then-ruling LKP and minor opposition parties ratcheted up their offensives against Moon's father, the frontrunner in the race. 

They raised the suspicion that Joon-yong was hired by a state-funded employment agency in 2009 thanks to his father's influence at the time as a presidential secretary. 

The People's Party revealed hard evidence to the media, including phone conversations with one of Moon's friends saying the allegations were true. But a prosecution probe was launched after Moon's party filed a complaint and it later turned out to have been concocted by two party officials. 

The party officials implicated in the scandal were recently found guilty by a Seoul court and an appeal is under way. (Yonhap)