"Pressuring Attendance and Leaking Investigation Details"... Moon Dahye's Side Publicly Criticizes Prosecution

"Not Obliged to Appear as a Witness," Criticism Arises
"Prosecutors Conduct Biased Investigation with Intent," Prosecutorial Criticism Emerges

The legal team representing Moon Dahye condemned the leak of investigation details by the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office, which is investigating former President Moon Jae-in's bribery allegations. On the 14th, lawyers Lee Kwang-cheol and Lee Jeong-seon, who are handling Dahye's legal representation, criticized the investigation situation related to Dahye in a statement. The legal team stated, "We hope that illegal leaks of investigation details will not be repeated," adding, "Investigation details such as the search of Dahye's residence have been continuously reported through the media, with some facts distorted and disclosures made that violate current laws."

Moon Da-hye, daughter of former President Moon Jae-in, who caused a drunk driving accident, is appearing at the Yongsan Police Station in Seoul on October 18, 13 days after the accident.

They continued, "As the daughter of a former president, Dahye has refrained from making official complaints," but "recently, regarding Dahye's expressed intention not to appear at the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office, we can no longer tolerate the prosecution's leaks of investigation details through the media," criticizing the prosecution's handling of criminal case publicity. In particular, the legal team explained the reason for Dahye's non-attendance at the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office's witness investigation: "She is not obligated to appear as a witness, and the case has been conducted with political intent and bias," adding, "It is problematic that the media widely reported the employment of her ex-husband as a bribe to her father, but we cannot understand why the prosecution insists on summoning the former president's daughter, who is not the person involved in the employment, for any investigation."

They further stated, "For these reasons, Dahye expressed her intention not to appear and requested a written investigation method from the prosecution, but the prosecution's leak of this to the media violates the Ministry of Justice's directive on 'Publicity of Criminal Cases,'" asserting, "This can also be seen as pressuring the witness to appear, effectively violating the rules for protecting human rights during investigations." Finally, the legal team warned, "The illegal disclosure of investigation processes and details has severely damaged Dahye's dignity and honor and violated laws such as the Criminal Procedure Act," adding, "Depending on the circumstances, this may go beyond a mere breach of investigation ethics and result in legal liability, so we hope that such leaks will not be repeated."

Earlier, the prosecution proposed various methods to Dahye, including appearing at the prosecution office, business trips, visits, and phone investigations. However, Dahye reportedly rejected all these and insisted on 'postal or email investigation' methods. Consequently, the prosecution judged that a written investigation was inappropriate and internally decided to skip Dahye's investigation.

Instead, the prosecution is reportedly of the view that it is necessary to directly investigate former President Moon Jae-in, who is accused of bribery. The prosecution specified the bribery amount related to former President Moon as approximately 223 million KRW, corresponding to the salary and living expenses received by Moon's daughter from July 2018 to April 2020 while employed as an executive at Thai Star Jet, a Thai airline owned by former Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-jik. Meanwhile, Dahye, who is also suspected of illegal lodging operations, appeared before the Jeju Autonomous Police Agency around 5 p.m. on the 11th and was investigated for about two hours. It is reported that Dahye admitted to the illegal lodging charges during this session.