'Bribery Charges'—Moon's Side Claims 'Prosecutors Indicted by the Truckload with Political Retaliation in Mind'

[Financial News] The legal team for former President Moon Jae-in, who faces bribery charges related to his former son-in-law's salary, criticized the prosecution's indictment as being politically motivated.
On the 25th, the Criminal Agreement Division 21 of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Judge Hyunbok Lee, held the third pretrial hearing for the aggravated bribery charges against former President Moon Jae-in and former lawmaker Sang-Jick Lee.
As defendants are not required to attend pretrial hearings, former President Moon Jae-in was not present.
During the hearing, Moon Jae-in's legal team strongly criticized the prosecution, claiming the indictment was driven by political motives. Hyung-Yeon Kim, Moon’s attorney, stated, "The prosecution has included irrelevant matters in the indictment, exaggerating their relevance to the case by five or ten times, as if they were related to the motive or circumstances of the alleged crime. They call this a 'truck indictment'—filing so many charges that they could fill a truck. This case is a prime example of that." He continued, "The indictment alleges that the President received a position from someone with official authority, but it also tries to include prior improper support and financial assistance to his daughter as if they were part of the charges. In reality, 85% of the evidence is unrelated, and only 15% is actually relevant."
Attorney Lee Gwang-chul also argued, "This case is complicated and the prosecution’s case is unfocused. That’s because the investigation was politically motivated from the outset, with Moon Jae-in as the target for retaliation. The case appears to have been built around the third-party bribery charges against former lawmaker Lee, and when the prosecution failed to find clear evidence, they shifted focus to Moon Jae-in’s daughter and former son-in-law, treating them as financially dependent and emphasizing quid pro quo. As a result, evidence was collected in a scattered and excessive manner."
The court stated, "All parties—the court, the prosecution, and the defense—are aware that this case is not typical. This is because the bribery charges against the defendant are based on the actions of his daughter and son-in-law. As the defense claims, whether the investigation was inappropriate will also be subject to review."
The court scheduled the fourth pretrial hearing for January 13 next year and will proceed with the second round of evidence selection.
According to the prosecution, Moon Jae-in is accused of having his former son-in-law, Mr. Seo, hired by Thai Eastar Jet, which was effectively owned by former lawmaker Lee, and receiving approximately 217 million won in bribes between August 14, 2018, and April 30, 2020, in the form of salary and relocation expenses. The Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office indicted Moon Jae-in without detention this past April.
theknight@fnnews.com Jung Kyung-soo Reporter