Former President Moon Jae-in's bribery case will be heard in a 10-day jury trial starting Jan. 11 next year. If it proceeds as scheduled, the formal trial will open as a jury trial about one year and nine months after he was indicted in April last year.
The 21st Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court, presided over by Chief Judge Cho Soon-pyo, held the eighth pretrial hearing on the 20th for Moon and former Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, who were indicted on charges of violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Crimes (bribery). Pretrial hearings are a procedure for organizing plans for the upcoming proceedings before the formal trial begins. Defendants are not required to attend. Moon did not appear on the day, while Lee was the only one of the two to appear in court.
The court informed prosecutors and defense counsel of the jury trial schedule. "I understand there are no particular objections regarding former President Moon Jae-in's overseas schedule, so we will proceed with the trial," the court said. The trial will run for 10 days, from Jan. 11 to Jan. 22 next year. Jury selection will take place on the morning of the first day, with the first hearing set to open at 3 p.m. that afternoon. Nine jurors and two alternate jurors will be chosen during the selection process.
Witness examinations are scheduled from the 12th to the 14th. Of roughly 110 witnesses requested by prosecutors, 18 were approved. Those set to testify include Moon's daughter, Moon Da-hye, and his former son-in-law, surnamed Suh. "To my knowledge, this is the first time so many witnesses have been examined in a jury trial," the court said. "Because what to do if a key witness fails to appear without justifiable cause is an important question, I ask both sides to cooperate actively in securing witness attendance." If the examination of evidence is disrupted by the absence of key witnesses, the case could be referred to ordinary criminal proceedings under the Act on Citizen Participation in Criminal Trials. Moon's side is expected to invoke the right to remain silent during questioning of the defendant. The court decided to continue pretrial proceedings on the 17th of next month.
Moon was indicted in April last year on charges of receiving bribes totaling about 200 million won ($140,000) in the form of salary and housing costs, after having his then son-in-law, surnamed Suh, hired by Thai Eastar Jet, which was effectively owned by Lee. Thai Eastar Jet is an overseas affiliate of Eastar Jet, which Lee effectively owned. Lee served as chairman of the Korea SMEs and Startups Agency during the Moon administration.
With both Moon's and Lee's defense teams seeking a jury trial, the court has been narrowing down the number of witnesses and items of evidence through procedures including evidence screening at pretrial hearings. Evidence screening is a procedure in which the court assesses the relevance of evidence to the case and excludes unrelated material. It was introduced through a revision of the Criminal Procedure Rules in February last year. The trial was later suspended for a time after a change in the presiding panel in February this year, before resuming in July.