Cho Kuk and Jung Kyung-shim couple will not stand in the same court... Baek Won-woo and Park Hyung-chul assigned to the 'Cho Kuk trial panel'

On the 31st, the day of the second trial of Jeong Gyeong-shim, a professor at Dongyang University and spouse of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, citizens are lining up to receive admission tickets at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] It appears that former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk and Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim of Dongyang University will not be tried in the same courtroom.

On the 31st, the 25th Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Song In-kwon), which is handling Professor Jeong's first trial, stated at a continuation hearing, "We consulted with the presiding judge of the related case and decided to proceed without consolidation."

The related case mentioned by the court refers to the 'family corruption' allegations involving former Minister Cho, Professor Jeong, and Roh Hwan-jung, director of Busan Medical Center, among others. This case is currently being heard by the 21st Criminal Division of the Seoul Central District Court (Chief Judge Kim Mi-ri). The prosecution has requested that the two cases be consolidated for trial, arguing that a significant portion of the charges against former Minister Cho and Professor Jeong overlap as co-conspirators.

In response, the court explained the reason for not consolidating the cases: "There are many differences between defendant Cho Kuk and defendant Jeong Gyeong-sim, and the presiding judge of the (family case) also did not agree." However, the court added, "If a request is made to separate only the defendant's (Professor Jeong's) part and reassign it, we will decide separately." If Professor Jeong's side requests it, the family corruption case assigned to the 21st Criminal Division could be partially reassigned to the 25th Criminal Division, effectively consolidating only Professor Jeong's portion. In this case, former Minister Cho and Professor Jeong would each face their own first trial.

Additionally, the Seoul Central District Court assigned the cases of former Blue House Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Baek Won-woo and former Blue House Anti-Corruption Secretary Park Hyung-chul, who were indicted on charges related to the 'Yoo Jae-soo inspection suppression' allegations, to the 21st Criminal Division. As a result, the 21st Criminal Division will handle not only former Minister Cho's family corruption and inspection suppression allegations but also the 'directed investigation and election interference' allegations involving 13 people including Song Cheol-ho, mayor of Ulsan, as well as the inspection suppression allegations involving former Secretary Baek and others.

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