
South Korea Prosecutors Indict Ex-President Moon Jae-in for Bribery
Jeon Heon-Kyun/Pool via REUTERS
South Korean President Moon Jae-in speaks during a ceremony of the 103rd anniversary of the March 1st Independence Movement Day in Seoul, South Korea, March 1, 2022.
SEOUL, April 24 (Reuters) – South Korean prosecutors have indicted former president Moon Jae-in for alleged bribery, a prosecution office spokesperson said on Thursday, in a case related to the appointment of his former son-in-law at a Thai airline.
Moon, 72, was indicted for bribery, while former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik was indicted for bribery and breach of trust, Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office said in a statement.
Prosecutors had been investigating whether Lee's appointment as the head of the SMEs and Startups Agency was in exchange for Moon's former son-in-law getting a job and receiving a salary plus living expenses at the Thai-based corporation that Lee controlled in 2018-2020, the statement said.
The prosecution alleges that the money Moon's son-in-law received as an executive director totalling 5.95 million baht ($177,506), or 218 million won, was irregular and constituted a bribe to the then-president.
Moon, Lee and their legal representatives could not immediately be reached for comment.
The liberal-leaning Moon, a lawyer and a civil rights activist, was president between 2017 and 2022.
He was replaced by the conservative Yoon Suk Yeol as president. Yoon was removed from office this month after being impeached over his short-lived imposition of martial law.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Nikkei Asia
an hour ago
- Nikkei Asia
The new US-China dance
Abishur Prakash is the founder of The Geopolitical Business, Inc., a Toronto-based strategy advisory firm, and produces the Mr. Geopolitics insights for global leaders. For a moment, there was respite from the economic war. The Geneva meeting led to a tariff pause. Talk of a "great rebalancing" spread, potentially redesigning the U.S.-China relationship on a scale unseen since the China Opening in 1972.


Nikkei Asia
2 hours ago
- Nikkei Asia
Analysis: Xi Jinping's generals face a treacherous political battlefield
Katsuji Nakazawa is a Tokyo-based senior staff and editorial writer at Nikkei. He spent seven years in China as a correspondent and later as China bureau chief. He was the 2014 recipient of the Vaughn-Ueda International Journalist prize. It is now indisputable that Gen. He Weidong has been purged, three months after he disappeared from public view, sparking a torrent of speculation within and outside China.


Kyodo News
10 hours ago
- Kyodo News
South Korea's military halts loudspeaker broadcasts against North Korea
KYODO NEWS - 2 hours ago - 18:50 | World, All South Korea's military said Wednesday it has halted propaganda loudspeaker broadcasts along the border with North Korea, in what is seen as part of President Lee Jae Myung's new administration's efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula. The broadcasts were resumed in June last year by Lee's predecessor, Yoon Suk Yeol, who took a hardline stance against North Korea. His government restarted them in response to the North's launch of waste-carrying balloons into the South, ending a six-year hiatus since 2018, when inter-Korean relations had begun to thaw. The South Korean military said the halt is aimed at helping "restore trust in inter-Korean relations and achieving peace on the Korean Peninsula." Pyongyang floated thousands of trash-carrying balloons across the border between May and November last year in tit-for-tat retaliation for South Korean activists sending anti-North Korea propaganda leaflets across the border. Earlier this week, South Korea's Unification Ministry urged the activists to halt the leaflet distribution, saying it heightens tensions on the Korean Peninsula and endangers the lives and safety of residents in border areas. The ministry had previously permitted the activity. Related coverage: New South Korean President Lee emphasizes pragmatism after sworn in Kim says North Korea to "unconditionally support" Russia in Ukraine war