Cho Kuk and Jung Kyung-shim to Face Each Other in Court Around March... First Trial Procedure on the 29th

Low Possibility of Merging with Former Professor Jeong's Case
Likely to Be Mentioned at the 5th Pretrial Hearing on the 9th

Minister of Justice Cho Kuk is leaving his residence in Bangbae-dong, Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 10th. Photo by Moon Honam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim of Dongyang University are expected to face each other in court as early as March. The prosecution indicted both Cho and Professor Jeong without detention at the end of last month on charges of involvement in admission fraud. The court assigned the case to the Criminal Division 21 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Miri) on the 3rd.

The Criminal Division 21 of the Seoul Central District Court announced on the 6th that the first preparatory hearing for Cho’s case will be held on the 29th at 10:20 a.m. The preparatory hearing is a procedure to organize issues for the trial, and the defendant is not required to attend. Accordingly, the couple’s court encounter will take place during the formal trial, which will begin after the preparatory hearing. The trial court will hold several preparatory hearings before setting the formal trial dates. Currently, it is highly likely to take place after March.

Spouse of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, Professor Jung Kyung-shim of Dongyang University, is entering the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 23rd to attend the pre-arrest detention hearing (warrant review). Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

The couple’s court encounter is also expected to be discussed at the 5th preparatory hearing for Professor Jeong, scheduled for the 9th under the Criminal Division 25 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Song In-kwon). Previously, the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Ko Hyung-gon), which investigated the Cho family’s corruption allegations, requested the consolidation of the trials, stating that the charges in Professor Jeong’s and Cho’s cases significantly overlap in admission fraud and private equity fund matters. Whether to consolidate will be decided by the two trial courts handling the cases. Since Cho’s trial dates have not yet been set, it is likely that Professor Jeong’s trial court will address this issue first. However, a lawyer in Seocho-dong predicted, “The scale of the two cases is too large for one court to handle,” and “Consolidation will not be easy.”

If the two cases proceed in different courts, Professor Jeong will receive first-instance verdicts from both Criminal Division 21 and Criminal Division 25, while Cho will receive a verdict only from Criminal Division 21. However, Cho is currently under investigation as a suspect in the prosecution’s inquiries into the ‘Yu Jae-su supervision suspension’ and ‘Blue House Ulsan mayoral election interference’ allegations. If he is indicted in the future, the number of trials will increase. In that case, he is expected to receive first-instance verdicts from two courts and three trial divisions. Currently, the Yu Jae-su supervision suspension allegation is being investigated by the Criminal Division 6 of the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors’ Office (Presiding Judge Lee Jeong-seop), and the Blue House election interference allegation is being handled by the Public Investigation Division 2 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Tae-eun).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.