The prosecution reportedly notified former President Moon Jae-in on the 28th to undergo a suspect investigation regarding allegations of preferential hiring by Thai Star Jet involving his former son-in-law, Mr. Seo.
According to Yonhap News Agency and others, the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office Criminal Division 3 (Director General Bae Sang-yoon) recently informed former President Moon to comply with a summons investigation.
A prosecution official said, “(Regarding the summons investigation) we are negotiating the schedule with the attorney in various ways,” adding, “It is difficult to clarify specific timing for the summons notification or investigation schedule.”
The prosecution is investigating the circumstances under which Mr. Seo became an executive director at Thai Star Jet, a Thai corporation he actually owns, following the appointment of former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik as chairman of the Korea Small and Medium Enterprises Agency (KOSME) in March 2018. Mr. Seo received a salary and living expenses totaling over 230 million won until April 2020.
The prosecution believes that Mr. Seo's employment at Thai Star Jet was in exchange for former lawmaker Lee's appointment as chairman of KOSME in March 2018. The prosecution has reportedly secured evidence that the Blue House's Civil Affairs Office's Public Service Discipline Secretary's Office recommended that he was unsuitable for the position due to a previous conviction in 2002 for stock manipulation, but the Blue House proceeded with the appointment.
The prosecution also views the salary and relocation expenses paid to Mr. Seo by Thai Star Jet as bribes, as former President Moon ceased economic support for his daughter, Dahye.
Currently, former President Moon and his daughter, Dahye, are suspects being investigated for bribery-related charges, making further prosecution investigation inevitable.