By Kim Rahn





Moon Jae-in

President Moon Jae-in vented his anger Thursday at former President Lee Myung-bak for his claim that the ongoing investigation into corruption allegations made against him was political retaliation.



Moon said Lee's remarks "insulted" his administration and the legal system.



The strong reaction came a day after Lee said the prosecution's probe was political retaliation by the Moon administration over the death of former liberal President Roh Moo-hyun. Roh committed suicide in 2009 while being investigated for allegedly accepting bribes, and many of his supporters said the investigation was conducted as a favor to then-President Lee.



Moon was Roh's decades-long friend and served as his chief of staff.



"President Moon said he could not cool his anger at Lee talking about political retaliation by directly mentioning Roh's death," presidential spokesman Park Soo-hyun said in a briefing.



Regarding Lee's claim that Cheong Wa Dae was pulling the prosecution's strings for political revenge, Park said, "Moon also said this insulted the government and the legal system, adding a former president should not have said this."



Although many liberals believe the investigative pressure under the conservative Lee administration drove his predecessor to commit suicide, it has been virtually "taboo" among politicians to mention this directly.





Lee Myung-bak