Lee Jae-myung on Investigation into Former President Moon's Son-in-Law's Preferential Hiring: "Reject Political Retaliation"

"Retaliation by Previous Administration... Anger at Ruthlessness"
"Investigation to Embarrass Former President"

Lee Jae-myung, leader of the Democratic Party of Korea, stated on the 31st that he "firmly rejects political retaliation" in response to the prosecution's search and seizure of the residence of Dahye, the daughter of former President Moon, the previous day. The prosecution is investigating allegations of 'preferential hiring by an airline' involving Seo, who was the son-in-law of former President Moon Jae-in.

Lee Jae-myung, Leader of the Democratic Party of Korea Photo by Yonhap News

On the same day, Lee posted on his social media (SNS), writing, "Keep in mind that retaliating against the previous administration and suppressing the opposition party will neither improve people's livelihoods nor change the political situation."

Yoon Jong-gun, the floor spokesperson, also criticized the prosecution in a written briefing, saying, "After tracking the accounts of the former President Moon and his wife, now the prosecution's audacity to search the residence of the former President's child enrages us."

Yoon added, "It is surprising to see the prosecution move swiftly as the President's approval rating plummets to the low 20% range," and claimed, "It seems the prosecution intends to divert public attention to investigations that disgrace the former President in order to grant immunity to First Lady Kim Geon-hee."

He continued, "How much longer and how many more insults does the prosecution intend to inflict?" emphasizing, "It appears they plan to overcome the special prosecutor situation and the 'pro-Japanese controversy' through political retaliation and opposition suppression, but the public will no longer be deceived."

The prosecution is reportedly using this search and seizure to ascertain the amount of financial support that former President Moon and his wife provided negatively to Dahye's family.

The prosecution suspects that former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, founder of Eastar Jet, provided preferential treatment to Seo and Dahye's family in exchange for his appointment as chairman of the Small and Medium Business Corporation in 2018.

Seo became embroiled in controversy after being employed as an executive director at Thai Eastar Jet, a Thai low-cost airline established by former lawmaker Lee, following Lee's appointment as chairman.

The People Power Party and civic groups filed complaints with the prosecution four times between September 2020 and April 2021, requesting an investigation into the quid pro quo between Seo's employment and Lee's appointment as chairman of the Small and Medium Business Corporation.