Ex-presidential chief of staff summoned over allegations involving Moon family

Im Jong-seok, a former chief of staff for preceding President Moon Jae-in, has been summoned for questioning over allegations Moon’s former son-in-law was unfairly hired as an airline executive in exchange for favors for the firm’s founder, prosecutors said Monday.

The Jeonju District Prosecutors Office in Jeonju, about 190 kilometers south of Seoul, said Im was asked to appear before prosecutors as a witness at 1:30 p.m. Tuesday. Im served as Moon’s top secretary from May 2017 to January 2019.

Prosecutors are expected to ask Im whether he played any role in the appointment of Lee Sang-jik, founder of South Korean budget carrier Eastar Jet and its Thai affiliate, Thai Eastar Jet, as head of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency (KOSME) in 2018.

Following Lee’s appointment, Moon’s then son-in-law, surnamed Seo, was hired as an executive director of Thai Eastar Jet. 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 at that time.

Prosecutors suspect that the decision to appoint Lee as the KOSME chief was probably made during an informal meeting of presidential secretaries at the presidential office in late 2017.

Earlier, prosecutors booked Cho Hyun-ock, former senior presidential secretary for personnel affairs under Moon, on power abuse charges in connection with Lee’s case and questioned several other former presidential office officials. 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.

Confirming the prosecution’s summons in his social media post, Im said the case appears to have been initiated by “political prosecutors” who have already drawn a “picture for political purposes,” as seen in their recent search of the bank accounts of Moon and his wife.