Former President Moon Jae-in on Friday called the indictment on bribery charges against him “unjust,” while accusing the prosecutors of abuse of power and being “political.”
The remarks came during his meeting with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik ahead of attending a celebratory event marking seven years of the April 27 Panmunjom Declaration, which was an outcome of the April 2018 inter-Korean summit between then-president Moon and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
“The indictment itself was unjust, but I felt that (the prosecutors) were pushing this into a direction (they had) already set,” Moon told Woo in a meeting held at the main building of the Assembly.
“This means that the prosecution has become that much political and is an example of abuse of prosecutorial power,” he added.
Moon also revealed that the indictment came as a surprise for him, as there was an initial agreement with the prosecutors to allow the former president to review the facts tied to the bribery charges before they would make any further decisions.
“(In the timeframe leading up to the indictment,) I was reviewing (related) records at the presidential archives to do some in-depth fact checking after having written my affidavit (to submit to the prosecution later),” he explained. “The process had been agreed upon by the prosecution … But they have decided to abruptly indict me.”
Moon asked Woo to focus on letting the public know about the “abuse of prosecutorial power and politics.”
Ahead of Moon’s remarks, Woo said that the prosecutors’ move to indict the former president was “unconvincing” for him, as he believes that they ignored the appropriate procedures before charging Moon with bribery.
“It’s unconvincing for me in terms of the (charges) and the timing of the indictment with the country suffering under various turmoil. I believe the Assembly should look into whether there are any flaws in the procedures (of the indictment),” Woo said.
The Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office said Thursday they indicted Moon without detention on charges of bribery concerning his former son-in-law’s employment at a local airline.
The former son-in-law, surnamed Seo, allegedly received some 217 million won ($151,000) between August 2018 and April 2020 in the form of salary and housing support from Thai low-cost carrier Thai Eastar Jet after being appointed as executive director. Seo had no experience in the airline industry and former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, who is the airline’s founder, was appointed as head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency at the time. Moon was in office as president from 2017 to 2022.
mkjung@heraldcorp.com
