Former President Moon Jae-in's First Trial for Bribery Charges Approaches
Former President Moon Jae-in is set to face his first trial this week related to bribery charges concerning his former son-in-law's salary.
According to legal sources on the 15th, the Criminal Division 21 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Lee Hyun-bok) will hold the first court preparation session for former President Moon, who has been indicted for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes (bribery), at 2 PM on the 17th.
On that day, Lee Sang-jik, a former member of the National Assembly who has also been indicted for allegedly providing bribes to former President Moon (violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment, etc. of Specific Crimes, bribery, and breach of duty), is expected to attend.
The court preparation session is a procedure to confirm both sides' positions and discuss evidence plans before the actual trial begins, and since the defendant is not obliged to attend, former President Moon is expected to be absent.
The prosecution has indicted former President Moon without detention on charges of accepting approximately 217 million won as bribes while he was alleged to have employed his former son-in-law, Seo, at 'Thai Star Jet,' which is known to be owned by former Congressman Lee Sang-jik, from August 2018 to April 2020, after Seo was hired and received his salary and housing expenses in Thailand.
According to the prosecution's assessment, the Moon couple's cessation of financial support to their daughter, Dahye, and her husband after Seo’s employment, which brought them no significant income, effectively led to the Moon couple's economic gain, thus regarding the funds involved as bribery.
In anticipation of the trial, former President Moon and former Congressman Lee Sang-jik each submitted requests to have the case transferred to their respective local courts in Ulsan and Jeonju.
According to Article 4, Paragraph 1 of the Criminal Procedure Act, the first competent court is determined based on the location of the crime or the defendant's address or residence.
Former President Moon's camp stated that "the prosecution’s decision to indict in the Seoul Central District Court, despite there being no significant impact from the investigation, was purely for the convenience of deploying numerous prosecutors residing in Seoul." They also explained that "for the elderly former President Moon, the round trip from his residence to the Seoul Central District Court takes 8-10 hours," and requested the case be transferred to the Ulsan District Court, where he resides, since security personnel would also need to accompany him.
Meanwhile, the case concerning former Blue House Chief of Personnel Cho Hyun-ok, which the prosecution had requested to be combined with former President Moon's case due to suspicions of preferential treatment related to former Congressman Lee Sang-jik, will proceed separately.
Former President Moon's camp strongly opposed the prosecution’s request for consolidation last month, calling it a "perverse request for consolidation." The Criminal Division 27 of the Seoul Central District Court, which is handling the case of former Chief Cho’s alleged abuse of power, determined on the 23rd of last month during a hearing that the factual elements of the two cases are different and decided not to consolidate them.
Image source: Former President Moon Jae-in / News1, Dahye, daughter of former President Moon Jae-in / News1
