Bahk Eun-ji has been with The Korea Times since 2012, building a career across multiple desks. She began at the Business Desk, where she conducted in-depth interviews with key figures in Korea's corporate world. Later, she moved to the Politics & City Desk, focusing on education policy and social affairs. She later served as team leader of the digital content team, leading curation efforts on the newspaper’s homepage and reshaping print stories for social media audiences to enhance digital reach. Now back on the Politics Desk, she covers the National Assembly and the Ministry of National Defense, with a renewed focus on political developments.
Ex-President Moon Jae-in rejects indictment, DPK claims retaliation
Former President Moon Jae-in, front row left, and National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, front row right, as they head to the 7th anniversary ceremony of the April 27 Panmunjom declaration at the National Assembly Library in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
By Bahk Eun-ji
The prosecution’s indictment of former President Moon Jae-in on bribery charges has sparked a strong backlash, not only from the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) but also from Moon himself, who called it "unjust" during a public appearance on Friday.
The liberal DPK, Moon's political home, condemned the indictment as politically motivated and an attempt to influence the upcoming election, given that the prosecution's indictment came just 39 days before Korea’s snap presidential election.
Moon broke his silence Friday morning during a meeting with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-shik, held just before a ceremony commemorating the seventh anniversary of the April 27 Panmunjeom declaration.
“The indictment itself is unjust, but more troubling is the sense that everything is moving forward along a predetermined path,” he said. He added that efforts should now focus not just on proving his innocence, but on exposing the misuse of prosecutorial power.
According to the indictment, the prosecution concluded that the approximately 200 million won ($139,200) salary and housing allowance received by Moon’s son-in-law from the budget airline Thai Eastar Jet — after he was appointed to an executive position — constituted bribery aimed at Moon.
The Thai-registered airline was effectively controlled by former DPK lawmaker Lee Sang-jik at the time. Prosecutors claim Moon rewarded Lee by appointing him as head of a state agency in 2018 and later aiding his bid for a parliamentary seat in the general election in 2020.
Moon’s legal team dismissed the indictment as “fabricated and baseless,” asserting that he had no involvement in the hiring process. They said a formal written response to the prosecution’s questions was already underway, with a submission deadline set for late April under a prior agreement with investigators. The indictment, they argued, lacked proper investigative steps and appeared driven by a predetermined conclusion.
Members of the Democratic Party of Korea's Committee Against Political Suppression of the Former Government speak at the National Assembly Communication Hall in Yeouido, Seoul, during an emergency press conference regarding the indictment of former President Moon Jae-in, Thursday. Yonhap
Moon's case has been assigned to the Seoul Central District Court’s Criminal Division 21, which handles high-profile election and corruption cases. Prosecutors have requested the case be merged with an ongoing trial involving Cho Hyun-ok, a former presidential aide accused of influencing Lee’s appointment. Both trials are now set to proceed under the same court handling impeached Yoon's sedition case, raising political sensitivities ahead of the June vote.
Meanwhile, DPK leaders and presidential hopefuls intensified their criticism.
Interim party chair and floor leader Park Chan-dae said the indictment marked “a line that should never have been crossed,” arguing it was intended to “discredit the DPK and protect those still loyal to the disgraced impeached former President Yoon Suk Yeol.” He accused prosecutors of turning a blind eye to unresolved allegations involving Kim Keon Hee, Yoon’s wife, and forgoing appeals in Yoon’s criminal case.
Rep. Lee Jae-myung, the party’s presidential frontrunner, also said that the prosecution was “behaving more like novelists than investigators.” Speaking to reporters in Gwangju on Thursday, he added, “If there were real evidence, the public would have seen it by now. Prosecutors should build cases on facts, not fiction.”
Lee’s campaign advisor Rep. Kim Young-jin went further, calling the case “a calculated attempt to draw a false equivalence between Moon and Yoon.” He noted that both trials would be held in the same courthouse, labeling it “a cynical move to influence voter perception.”
Other contenders echoed the outrage. Kim Kyoung-soo, a former South Gyeongsang Province governor and close Moon ally, called for the dismantling of prosecutorial investigative powers. “Only indictment rights should remain,” he said. Gyeonggi Province Gov. Kim Dong-yeon urged a total overhaul of the institution, saying the case revealed the need for “root-level reform.”
The DPK’s special committee on political retaliation criticized the timing of the indictment as deliberate, accusing prosecutors of launching a final offensive on behalf of Yoon’s political allies. In a statement, the committee claimed that the legal system was being used as a tool for political suppression rather than justice.
At the same event, Moon delivered a sharply worded speech condemning the former Yoon Suk Yeol administration’s record. He called the Dec. 3 martial law plan “the epitome of democratic regression” and described the past three years as “a time of national backsliding.” Criticizing the administration’s economic policies and perceived rollback of democratic norms, Moon warned, “We are now in a country where citizens worry about the government, not the other way around.”