Key references continue to refuse investigation
There is growing interest in the direction of the prosecution’s investigation into former President Moon Jae-in’s former son-in-law Seo’s ‘suspicion of preferential hiring of Thai Star Jet’ and ‘suspicion of supporting his daughter Da-hye’s migration to Thailand.’
This is because Ms. Da-hye and Mrs. Kim Jeong-sook did not respond to the request to investigate witnesses. As the subpoena investigation of key witnesses failed, it is expected that the investigation, which was speeding up, will inevitably experience some setbacks.
According to the legal community on the 26th, Jeonju Prosecutor’s Office Criminal Division 3 (Chief Prosecutor Han Yeon-gyu) confirmed that Mr. Seo, who had no experience in the aviation industry, was hired as a senior executive at Thai Star Jet in July 2018, and former National Assembly member Lee Sang-jik was appointed as the chairman of the Small and Medium Business Corporation (SME). We believe there was quid pro quo between what happened, and an investigation into this is underway.
Thai Eastarjet is a Thai low-cost airline whose actual owner is known to be former lawmaker Lee, founder of Eastar Jet. At the time, Mr. Seo was hired as a managing director at Thai Star Jet in July and August 2018, four months after former lawmaker Lee became chairman of the Small and Medium Business Corporation.
The prosecution, which began the investigation, conducted a large-scale summons and investigation of Blue House personnel at the time. Last August and September, then-Chief of Staff Lim Jong-seok and Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk were summoned as witnesses for questioning. Cho Hyun-ok, former senior secretary for personnel affairs, has already been booked as a suspect (on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of the exercise of rights).
The investigation into Dahye is also ongoing. The prosecution believes that the discontinuation of living expenses support to Da-hye and her husband after Seo’s employment resulted in economic benefits for former President Moon Jae-in and his wife. The prosecution’s view is that the monthly salary of 8 million won and 223 million won, including moving expenses to Thailand and housing expenses, received by Mr. Seo, who was the son-in-law, while working until April 2020, is in the nature of a bribe.
Accordingly, a search and seizure was conducted at Da-hye’s residence in Seoul at the end of August to confirm the amount of financial support provided by former President Moon and his wife to Da-hye’s family and the cost of relocating to Thailand.
However, after the prosecution completed forensic analysis and restoration of mobile phones obtained through search and seizure, they requested Da-hye to appear as a witness, but Da-hye refused all three requests for attendance.
Following Da-hye, the investigation plan for Ms. Kim Jeong-sook was also aborted. This is because Mrs. Kim also expressed her intention not to appear when the prosecution summoned her for a witness investigation. In addition, since the prosecution’s investigation itself is problematic and they will not respond to the investigation at all, it is not likely that a written or wired investigation will be conducted in the future.
From the prosecution’s perspective, Ms. Da-hye and Ms. Kim Jeong-sook are key references to prove former President Moon’s bribery charges. The investigation is expected to suffer some setbacks as the subpoena fails.
On the other hand, if it is determined that all key evidence has been secured through search and seizure, the prosecution may immediately call former President Moon Jae-in. However, it has been confirmed that the Jeonju Prosecutor’s Office has not yet decided on whether or when to specifically summon former President Moon.
Regarding this, a prosecution official said, “As this is an ongoing matter, we cannot reveal specific details about it,” and added, “No decision has been made as of now on whether to summon former President Moon for investigation.”
(Jeonju = News 1)
Source: www.donga.com
