"Serious About Farm Work"... 4 Photos Released by Moon Jae-in After Investigation into First Lady Kim Jung-sook Begins

Former President Moon Shares Photos of Vegetable Farming on SNS
On the Same Day Investigation into 'Suspected India Leisure Trip' Begins
Also Files Complaint Against Rep. Bae Hyun-jin Who Raised Related Allegations

Former President Moon Jae-in's wife, Kim Jung-sook, visited the Taj Mahal in India in 2018, and on the 17th, the prosecution launched an investigation into this visit. Meanwhile, former President Moon posted photos of himself harvesting vegetables on social media. That day was also when Kim filed a police complaint against Bae Hyun-jin, a member of the People Power Party, who had raised various suspicions about her visit to India.

[Image source=Captured from former President Moon Jae-in's Facebook]

Former President Moon wrote on his Facebook, "I harvested purple onions, purple potatoes, and potatoes," and shared four photos with hashtags such as ‘Sincere about farming,’ ‘Not a wealthy farmer, but...,’ and ‘A decent farmer.’ The photos showed him sitting in the field wearing a straw hat and casual clothes. In one photo, he was smiling brightly while holding a bunch of onions in his hand.

About an hour and a half before the photos were posted on Moon’s SNS, Yoon Gun-young, a member of the Democratic Party who served as the head of the Moon Jae-in administration’s state affairs situation room, announced that Kim had submitted a complaint against Bae Hyun-jin to the Yeongdeungpo Police Station in Seoul. Bae had been sharply criticizing Kim’s India trip, focusing on issues such as the "60 million won in-flight meal" and "self-invitation." In response, Bae said, "Now that the prosecution’s full-scale investigation news is pouring out, she must be quite anxious."

Since that day marked the start of the prosecution’s full investigation into suspicions of Kim’s India trip being a leisure trip, attention was drawn to former President Moon’s SNS activity. On the 5th, Moon posted on Facebook, calling the criticisms "petty quarrels that should never happen if one understands state affairs," and expressed his stance on the source of Kim’s overseas trip expenses, the high-priced in-flight meals, and the tourism controversy. In his memoir, From the Margins to the Center, he revealed that Kim’s visit to India was "the first solo diplomatic trip by the First Lady."

Earlier, Lee Jong-bae, a People Power Party member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council, accused Kim of "virtually taking a leisure trip by allocating 400 million won in contingency funds" for the India trip. In December of last year, he filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office accusing Kim of abuse of power, obstruction of the exercise of rights, and causing loss to the national treasury under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes. He is scheduled to appear at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office on the 19th as a complainant for questioning. Since Lee also filed complaints regarding suspicions of Kim receiving luxury jackets and swimming lessons from Blue House security personnel, related investigations are expected to be conducted together.