Prosecutors investigate Moon’s bank accounts over alleged hiring favor for ex-son-in-law

Prosecutors are examining the financial accounts of former President Moon Jae-in and his wife in an investigation into allegations their former son-in-law was unfairly hired as an airline executive in exchange for favors for the firm's founder, sources said Friday. The Jeonju District Prosecutors Office, about 190 kilometers south of Seoul, recently obtained and executed a search warrant to look into the financial accounts of Moon and his wife, Kim Jung-sook, the sources said. The investigation into the former presidential couple comes four years after the People Power Party filed a corruption complaint regarding their former son-in-law, surnamed Seo, who was employed as an executive director at the Thailand-based budget carrier Thai Eastar Jet following the appointment of Lee Sang-jik as head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency in 2018. Lee, a former two-term lawmaker affiliated with Moon's Democratic Party and the founder of the budget carrier Eastar Jet Co., also established the Thai low-cost airline . Seo's employment, with his previous career including a stint at a game company and no experience in the airline industry, raised skepticism about the background of his appointment at that time. The latest account search reportedly is focusing on the extent of the financial support that the Moon couple extended to their daughter's family. The focus of the broader investigation has been whether Lee's appointment as head of the startups agency was made in exchange for hiring Seo at his airline company. Seo, who divorced Moon's only daughter Da-hye in recent years, has been questioned as a witness three times this year, during which he exercised his right to remain silent. Source:Yonhapi News Agency