[사설]Suspected corruption Snowball Lee Sang-jik … Strict investigation

Various suspicions surrounding Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Sang-jik, known as the founder and actual owner of Eastar Jet, are snowballing. Eastar Jet recently laid off 600 of its 1,100 employees when the sale was unsuccessful.

Eastar Jet workers do not receive job maintenance subsidies or insurance benefits due to the company’s late payment of 500 million won in employment insurance and 7.7 billion won in four major insurance premiums. The union side urged lawmakers to make private contributions to Lee, asking him to receive subsidies for maintaining employment, but was rejected. The criticism deserves to be leveled for leaving workers alone to blame for mismanagement, which is backed by 25 billion won in unpaid wages.

The process of handing over the Eastar Jet, founded in 2007 by Congressman Lee, to his two sons is also full of suspicions. In 2015, two boys, who were teenagers and in their twenties at the time of the succession, managed to mobilize a large amount of 10 billion won in two months after establishing Eastar Holdings, a paper company with a capital of 30 million won. , to acquire 68% of Eastar Jet’s equity of 150 billion won. There is no convincing explanation as to whether it was possible to become the largest shareholder by taking over. Lee’s second-largest shareholder, with a 7.49% stake in Eastar Jet, was Lee’s own brother, who said in a media interview that he was not involved in the management, raising suspicions that Lee he had middle name stocks. Thai Star Jet of Thailand, which is known to have payment guaranteed by Eastar Jet, is a company whose son-in-law Moon Jae-in worked as a clerk in 2018. There are many unusual circumstances to say that it is a coincidence that victory and success of the current government, such as Lee’s appointment as president of Small and Medium Venture Business Corporation in 2018, and being elected in Jeonju-eul, Jeonbuk after the Democratic primary in this general election. During the 2017 presidential election, Congressman Lee served as Senior Deputy Director of the Technical Center at the Moon Jae-in Candidate Camp. The Democratic Party referred Lee to the Ethics Inspection Team, an internal party investigation organization, as the first inspection subject. However, it should not be dealt with solely by party supervision, as it is a matter that is very likely to arise as a suspicion of corruption in power. As the case has already been brought before the prosecution due to the power of the people and the indictment of the Eastar Jet pilots union, the prosecution must quickly assemble a competent investigative team to delve into the substance of the suspicion.