Moon Jae-in becomes 4th consecutive elected South Korean president to be indicted

The Associated Press

· Posted: Apr 24, 2025 10:03 AM EDT | Last Updated: 16 minutes ago

South Korean prosecutors indicted former liberal president Moon Jae-in on bribery charges on Thursday, saying that a budget airline gave his son-in-law a lucrative no-show job during Moon's term in office. 

Moon's indictment adds him to a long list of South Korean leaders who have faced trials or scandals at the close of their terms or after leaving office. 

Prosecutors allege that Moon, who served as president from 2017 to 2022, received bribes totalling 217 million won ($209,600 Cdn) from Lee Sang-jik, founder of the budget carrier Thai Eastar Jet, in the form of wages, housing expenses and other financial assistance provided to Moon's then-son-in-law from 2018 to 2020. 

South Korean media reported that Moon's daughter and her husband were divorced in 2021. The Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office said in a statement that Lee was also indicted on charges of paying bribes to Moon and committing breaches of trust. 

The prosecutors' office said Moon's former son-in-law was hired as a director-level employee at Lee's company in Thailand even though he had no work experience in the airline industry. The office said he spent only brief periods at the company's office in Thailand and carried out only minor duties while claiming to be working remotely from South Korea. 

The prosecutors' office said it had not found evidence that Moon directly performed political favours for Lee, but that Lee, who worked on Moon's campaign, likely expected his assistance to be repaid. Lee was later named the head of the state-funded Korea SME and Startups Agency and was nominated by Moon's party to run for parliament while Moon was in office.

Moon, 72, is best known internationally for his push to reconcile with rival North Korea as he met North Korean Leader Kim Jong-un three times and facilitated the start of the high-stakes nuclear diplomacy between Kim and President Donald Trump.

Frequent arrests, suicide blot recent politics

Moon's indictment comes before South Korea elects a new president on June 3 to succeed conservative president Yoon Suk Yeol, who was ousted over an ill-fated imposition of martial law in December. Yoon, a former top prosecutor, now stands a criminal trial on rebellion charges in connection with his martial law decree. 

WATCH l What led to Yoon's martial law declaration:

It's unclear if Moon's indictment will influence prospects for liberals to win back the presidency. But observers say liberal presidential aspirant Lee Jae-myung — who survived a stabbing in early 2024 — is heavily favoured to win the vote, as conservatives remain in disarray over Yoon's ouster, although Lee also faces criminal trials on allegations of corruption and other charges. 

Moon's political allies at the main liberal opposition Democratic Party criticized the indictment, calling it a politically motivated attempt by Yoon supporters at the prosecution service to humiliate the former liberal leader ahead of the election. 

Youn Kun-young, a Democratic Party lawmaker who worked at Moon's presidential office, accused prosecutors of trying to divert attention from Yoon's "tragic end" by putting Moon on trial to influence the election outcome. 

Most past South Korean presidents have been embroiled in scandal in the final months of their terms or after leaving office.

Lee Myung-bak, elected president in 2007, was sentenced to a 17-year prison term for a range of corruption crimes, but was pardoned by Yoon in late 2022. Lee was then part of Yoon's legal team during his recent impeachment hearings.

In 2017, Park Geun-hye, South Korea's first female president, was removed from office and arrested over an explosive corruption scandal. She was pardoned during the Moon presidency.

Moon's friend and former liberal president Roh Moo-hyun, who served from 2003 to 2008, jumped to his death a year after leaving office. In the weeks prior to that, Roh's brother and former secretary had been arrested as part of a corruption probe.