[Exclusive] Moon Jae-in's Legal Team Submits Statement Claiming "Chartered Flight Mention Violates Indictment Japanese Principle"

Moon's Legal Team Submits 70-Page Statement to Court
"Violation of Indictment Japanese Principle, Grounds for Dismissal"

Former President Moon Jaein is speaking while meeting Woo Wonsik, Speaker of the National Assembly, at the National Assembly on the 25th. On this day, former President Moon visited the National Assembly for the first time since his retirement to attend the 7th anniversary ceremony of the Panmunjom Declaration. 2025.4.25 Photo by the National Assembly Press Photographers Group

The legal team representing former President Moon Jae-in, who has been indicted on bribery charges, submitted a statement to the court arguing that the prosecution’s inclusion of irrelevant details such as "support for a chartered flight to North Korea" in the indictment violates the principle of "Indictment Japanese Principle" and constitutes grounds for dismissal of the indictment.

According to a compilation of Asia Economy’s reporting on July 31, Moon’s defense team submitted three statements totaling 70 pages to the Criminal Agreement Division 21 of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Lee Hyunbok) on July 21 and July 28.

In the statement submitted on July 21, the defense argued that approximately 5 out of 19 pages in the prosecution’s indictment were unrelated to the alleged crime, pointing out that the inclusion of support for a chartered flight to North Korea violated the "Indictment Japanese Principle." The Indictment Japanese Principle is a rule that only facts related to the alleged crime should be included in the indictment.

The prosecution described the activities of former lawmaker Lee related to Eastar Jet, including the North Korea chartered flight project, in four paragraphs spanning pages 6 to 7 of Moon Jae-in’s indictment. The indictment states, "Former lawmaker Lee promoted chartered flights to North Korea as inter-Korean exchanges became more active and transported an art troupe with a government payment guarantee," and "such new business ventures required preferential measures from the government, such as route allocation and payment guarantees." Moon’s legal team stated, "The prosecution is unnecessarily elaborating on irrelevant facts in the indictment to frame the defendant as guilty."

In the statement submitted on July 28, the defense expressed opposition to the prosecution’s motion to merge this case with the case involving former Blue House Senior Presidential Secretary for Personnel Cho Hyunok. The defense argued, "If the prosecution wants to claim a connection to Lee Sangjik’s appointment as chairman, they should file a separate indictment," and "Given the timing of Seo’s resignation (March 2018) and Lee’s nomination as chairman (December 2017), a quid pro quo relationship cannot be established." The defense also raised an issue with the fact that 80% of the evidence submitted by the prosecution related to Lee Sangjik’s appointment at the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency and support for the North Korea chartered flight, noting that the evidence was submitted without indication of its relevance to the case.

The legal community believes that this statement, which raises the issue of the Indictment Japanese Principle, aligns with the argument against "overzealous prosecution" mentioned by Minister of Justice Jeong Sungho in his inauguration speech. On July 21, Minister Jeong stated in his speech, "Overzealous prosecution that undermines the rationalization of investigations must be eliminated."

In the bribery case against former President Moon, the prosecution suspects that 200 million won in salary and housing expenses received by his former son-in-law, Mr. Seo, from the airline Thai Eastar Jet, was a bribe from former lawmaker Lee Sangjik (the actual owner of Thai Eastar Jet) to Moon. This case was brought to trial in April, and the first pretrial hearing was held on June 17. The second pretrial hearing is scheduled for September 9 at the Seoul Central District Court.