Moon Jae-in

Prosecutors indicted Moon Jae-in in April 2025, alleging that salaries and benefits paid to his former son-in-law by Thai Eastar Jet constituted an indirect economic benefit to Moon in exchange for appointing the airline's founder, Lee Sang-jik, to head a public agency. Proceedings remained pending in 2026.

Legal status — source text

Indicted in April 2025; proceedings ongoing in 2026; no conviction established

Attribution

Personally implicated

After a South Korean official was shot dead by North Korea in 2020, Moon's administration was accused of portraying the victim as having attempted to defect without sufficient grounds and of concealing information.

Legal status — source text

Senior officials acquitted; prosecutors did not indict Moon for lack of evidence

In November 2019, Moon's government returned two fishermen accused of killing their colleagues to North Korea. After the change of government, the Justice Ministry concluded that there was no clear legal basis for expelling them against their will, and several former officials received suspended sentences.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Former Moon officials received suspended prison sentences in 2025; no personal conviction of Moon

Attribution

Political responsibility

Person targeted by the proceedings

anciens responsables de son administration

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

Members of Moon's administration were accused of favouring Democratic candidate Song Cheol-ho in the 2018 Ulsan mayoral election, notably by passing allegations concerning the outgoing Mayor to the police.

Legal status — source text

Supreme Court acquittals in 2025; Moon not charged

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

The Board of Audit and Inspection concluded that officials in Moon's administration had exerted pressure to alter or misleadingly present certain statistics, notably concerning property prices, incomes and employment.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Audit findings and prosecutions concerned officials; no personal conviction of Moon

Attribution

Political responsibility

The decision to shut down Wolsong-1 prematurely prompted legal disputes over the assessment of the reactor's economic viability. Industry Ministry officials were prosecuted for deleting documents related to the case.

State of the evidence

Established by a court

Legal status — source text

Officials received suspended sentences; no personal conviction of Moon

Attribution

Political responsibility

Moon's administration faced several cases in which ministries were accused of pressuring heads of public bodies appointed by the previous government to resign so that they could be replaced.

Legal status — source text

Former Environment Minister convicted; no personal conviction of Moon

Attribution

Political responsibility

Role of the person profiled

Protagonist not prosecuted

Near the end of his term, Moon enacted legislation sharply reducing prosecutors' powers to investigate cases directly. The rapid passage of the laws triggered an institutional crisis and the Prosecutor General's resignation.

State of the evidence

Documented

Attribution

Political responsibility

Moon granted a special pardon to former President Park Geun-hye, whose corruption conviction was final. The decision, taken only months before a closely contested presidential election, prompted debate over its political timing.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

Lawful presidential pardon; no judicial wrongdoing by Moon

Attribution

Political responsibility

Moon appointed Cho Kuk as Justice Minister in September 2019 while an investigation and major public controversy concerned Cho's family finances and university admissions. Cho resigned after just over a month.

State of the evidence

Documented

Legal status — source text

no criminal finding against Moon for the appointment

Attribution

Political responsibility