Prosecutors investigating the ‘Taehee Starjet preferential hiring suspicion’ involving Seo Mo, the son-in-law of former President Moon Jae-in, are conducting a search and seizure of the Ministry of Unification.
The Criminal Division 3 of Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Han Yeon-gyu) announced on the 16th that since the 14th, they have been conducting a search and seizure of the Ministry of Unification’s Inter-Korean Relations Management Division (formerly the Inter-Korean Dialogue Headquarters) to secure evidence related to the selection of the charter flight for the ‘South Korean Art Troupe Praying for Inter-Korean Peace and Cooperation.’
This search and seizure is reportedly to verify whether Lee Sang-jik, former lawmaker and founder of Eastar Jet who led the establishment of Taehee Starjet, received any other preferential treatment besides the position of chairman of the Small and Medium Business Venture Promotion Corporation in exchange for hiring the son-in-law of former President Moon.
In March to April 2018, during the early period of the Moon Jae-in administration, Eastar Jet transported the South Korean art troupe performing at the ‘South Korean Art Troupe Praying for Inter-Korean Peace and Cooperation Pyongyang Performance ? Spring Comes’ held in Pyongyang via a special charter flight.
The Ministry of Unification is known to have decided on Eastar Jet’s Pyongyang flight considering its experience operating a charter flight to North Korea during the 2015 ‘Inter-Korean Workers’ Unification Soccer Tournament.’ However, prosecutors suspect that beyond this experience, there may have been other political backgrounds behind the selection of Eastar Jet, a low-cost carrier (LCC), over full-service carriers (FSCs) as the charter flight to North Korea.
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