SEOUL — On Friday, April 25, South Korea's former president Moon Jae-in criticized prosecutors for becoming politically motivated and abusing their authority, calling his bribery indictment a prime example of this behavior. Moon was indicted by South Korean prosecutors on Thursday for alleged bribery, making him the latest former president to face legal issues. The charges relate to the employment of his former son-in-law at a Thai airline between 2018 and 2020.

Moon denounced the indictment as unjust and accused the prosecutors of pursuing the case with a preordained agenda. "Rather than solely defending my personal innocence, I intend to focus on exposing the misuse and politicization of prosecutorial power to the public," he said during a meeting with National Assembly Speaker Woo Won-sik.

Prosecutors had been investigating whether the appointment of former lawmaker Lee Sang-jik as head of the SMEs and Startups Agency was linked to Moon's former son-in-law receiving a job, salary, and living expenses from a Thai-based company controlled by Lee, according to a statement from the Jeonju District Prosecutors' Office.

Lee was indicted on charges of bribery and breach of trust in connection with the case. Moon’s legal team rejected the allegations, arguing that the payments his ex-son-in-law received were legitimate salaries for his work. They also accused the prosecution of politically targeting Moon in the run-up to the snap presidential election scheduled for June 3, following the impeachment and removal of President Yoon Suk Yeol due to a brief martial law declaration.

Lee Jae-myung, former leader of the liberal Democratic Party (DP), is currently leading the opinion polls with a significant margin over candidates from the conservative People Power Party (PPP). Moon belongs to the DP, while Yoon is affiliated with the PPP. Prosecutors have pointed to past bribery cases involving former presidents Park Geun-hye and Lee Myung-bak, both of whom were convicted and imprisoned, as precedents for Moon’s indictment.