Xinhua News Agency, Seoul, April 24 (Xinhua) -- The Jeonju District Procuratorate of South Korea filed a lawsuit against former President Moon Jae-in on the 24th on the grounds of accepting bribes. Moon Jae-in said in his position on this later that day that this was a "absurd prosecution" and a "retaliatory prosecution against Yoon Seok-yeon's impeachment."

  This data photo taken on May 10, 2020 shows that then South Korean President Moon Jae-in delivered a speech at the Blue House in Seoul, South Korea. Xinhua News Agency (Photo provided by Blue House)

  According to Yonhap News Agency and other media reports, the procuratorate also filed a lawsuit against Yisda Airlines founder and former member of Congress Lee Sang-ji on suspicion of bribery and malfeasance, and also stated that he would not prosecute Moon Jae-in's daughter Moon Duo-hye and former son-in-law Xu.

  The Jeonju District Procuratorate previously investigated Moon Jae-in's former son-in-law Xu, who received special care, served as an executive of ISDA Airlines, and Moon Jae-in's daughters Moon Do-hye and Xu, who obtained benefits from the airline during their stay in Thailand, and in March this year, Moon Jae-in was summoned to be investigated.

  The prosecutor believes that there are doubts about Xu entering ISDA Airlines as an executive without experience in the aviation industry. The prosecution also believes that the total salary, settlement fee, etc. of Xu received during his tenure at the company was bribes Moon Jae-in was suspected of accepting.

  On May 10, 2021, Moon Jae-in prepared to attend a press conference at the Blue House in Seoul. Xinhua News Agency/Reuters

  Moon Jae-in was nominated for president by the Co-Democratic Party in 2017 and eventually won, becoming the 19th President of South Korea. In 2022, Moon Jae-in resigned as president.

  In March 2022, National Power Party candidate Yoon Seo-yeol was elected as the new president. On the 4th of this month, Yoon Seok-yeol was removed from office as president. South Korea's new presidential election is scheduled to be held on June 3.

  When the procuratorate summoned Moon Jae-in for investigation in March this year, as the largest opposition party in South Korea, the Communist Democratic Party criticized the move for being "unreasonable and targeted."

  After Moon Jae-in stepped down as president, several senior officials during his administration were investigated. In January 2024, South Korean prosecutors inquired about Kim Sang-jo, the director of the Blue House policy office during Moon Jae-in's administration, to investigate whether the Moon Jae-in government tampers with economic data. Several senior officials during the Moon Jae-in government were also investigated by the prosecution for their involvement in this matter.

  The South Korean audit agency Supervision Agency said in September 2023 that the investigation results showed that during Moon Jae-in's administration, the President's Secretary-General and the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transportation put pressure on the Department of Statistics and the South Korean Real Estate Institute, forcing the latter two to tamper with or forge official data on income, employment, housing prices, etc. between 2017 and 2021 to maintain the Moon Jae-in government's economic and real estate policies. (Reporters: Lu Rui, Huang Xinxin)

[Editor in charge: Qiu Lifang]