Sewhae Public Official Killing and Son-in-Law's Special Recruitment by Airline... People Power Party Criticizes Moon Administration

Choo Kyung-ho "No One Punished for the Defection Fabrication Incident... Leading Truth Investigation"
Kim Sang-hoon "Son-in-law Airline Owner, Why Was Moon Appointed as Public Institution Chairman"

The leadership of the People Power Party intensified their criticism of former President Moon Jae-in by mentioning allegations of preferential hiring at an airline involving Moon’s former son-in-law and the 4th anniversary of the killing of a public official in the West Sea.

Chu Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, is speaking at the party's strategy meeting held at the National Assembly on the 24th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

On the 24th, Choo Kyung-ho, floor leader of the People Power Party, stated at a party strategy meeting held at the National Assembly, "The 22nd marked the 4th anniversary of the killing of the late Lee Dae-jun, a Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries official, who was killed by North Korean soldiers in the West Sea in 2020," adding, "This was a heinous act committed by North Korea again after 12 years since the late Park Wang-ja was shot and killed in 2008."

He continued, "The Moon administration was so preoccupied with appeasing North Korea that it neglected the lives of its citizens, and in order to cover up its own mistakes, it concealed, distorted, and fabricated the incident, labeling it as a defection case," emphasizing, "In the process, the deceased’s private life was unjustly disclosed, damaging the honor and dignity of the deceased."

Choo said, "Even after four years since the (killing) incident, the truth behind the fabricated defection case has not been uncovered, and no one has been punished," adding, "The person most responsible for the incident, former President Moon, remains silent about this case and only repeats hollow calls to resume inter-Korean dialogue." He further stated, "This cannot be called a proper nation. The People Power Party promises to take the lead in uncovering the truth behind the fabricated allegations regarding the West Sea public official shooting."

The People Power Party also criticized former President Moon’s remark that he "realizes that prosecutorial reform is incomplete" in relation to the prosecution’s investigation of himself and his family. Kim Sang-hoon, chairman of the Policy Committee, said, "I believe Moon’s remarks are highly inappropriate for a former president," and asked, "I ask former President Moon: Which high-ranking official’s son-in-law in South Korea can work as an executive at a foreign branch of an airline, receiving hundreds of millions of won in salary and living expenses without doing any work while his father-in-law is serving as a high-ranking official?"

Chairman Kim emphasized, "If the airline owner who paid hundreds of millions of won in salary and living expenses to a son-in-law with no significant airline experience without assigning any work was appointed as the chairman of a public institution by the high-ranking official father-in-law six months before the son-in-law’s hiring, how does former President Moon explain that?" The prosecution is investigating whether there was any quid pro quo between Seo Mo, who was hired as a senior executive at Thai Starjet in July 2018, and former Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, who was appointed chairman of the Small and Medium Business Corporation in March of that year. Thai Starjet is a Thai low-cost airline reportedly owned by former lawmaker Lee, the founder of Eastar Jet.