The prosecution, which is investigating the preferential hiring allegations against Mr. Seo, former President Moon Jae-in’s son-in-law, is searching and seizing the residence of the former president’s children on the 30th.
The Jeonju District Prosecutors’ Office’s 3rd Criminal Division (Chief Prosecutor Han Yeon-gyu) announced today that it is conducting a search and seizure of the Seoul residence of former President Moon’s daughter Da-hye.
It has been reported that through this search and seizure, the prosecution is looking into the amount of money that former President Moon and his wife provided to their daughter Da-hye’s family.
Prosecutors suspect that former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik hired Seo at Thai Star Jet, which he founded, in exchange for his appointment as chairman of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (SMEs) in 2018.
The prosecution previously seized the accounts of former President Moon and his wife to investigate whether Ms. Seo provided living expenses to her daughter and her husband before she got a job at Thai Star Jet. There is a suspicion that the financial support from Thai Star Jet, such as the monthly salary paid to Ms. Seo and the support for her living expenses in Thailand, was for the benefit of former President Moon. If the living expenses of her daughter and her husband, which former President Moon had been burdened with, were resolved with Ms. Seo’s employment, then there is room to interpret the employment itself as directly benefiting the president.
In addition, the prosecution has been summoning and questioning former Senior Secretary to the President for Personnel Cho Hyun-ok, former Chief of Staff Im Jong-seok, and other Blue House officials who attended the informal meeting held at the Blue House in late 2017 to confirm suspicions that former lawmaker Lee was nominated as the chairman of the Korea Development Institute. On the 31st, the prosecution plans to summon and question Cho Kuk, the leader of the Democratic Party of Korea and former Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs at the time.
A prosecution official said, “We are thoroughly guaranteeing the right to participate of the parties in the process of executing search and seizure warrants,” and “Considering that the target is a woman, female prosecutors and investigators are conducting interviews and other necessary measures to protect human rights.”
