The Trial of Cho Kuk Begins... Likely to Proceed Separately from Wife Jung Kyung-shim's Case

by Cho Seongpill

Published 20 Mar.2020 11:08(KST)

Denial of Cho's Charges Seven Months After Allegations Raised

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who has been indicted on charges including bribery, is expected to stand trial separately from his wife, Professor Jung Kyung-shim of Dongyang University.

On the 20th, the first pretrial hearing for Cho's charges of abuse of power and others was held under the Criminal Division 21 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Kim Miri). This comes seven months after allegations of corruption involving the Cho family first surfaced in August last year, leading to related complaints and a large-scale search by prosecutors who then launched an investigation. However, as this was a pretrial hearing, Cho did not appear in court.

Cho Kuk has been indicted on a total of 12 charges related to his children's admission fraud, private equity fund suspicions, and allegations of covering up the investigation into former Busan Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Yoo Jae-soo. The trial was originally scheduled to begin on January 29 but was postponed twice due to the merging of the Yoo Jae-soo cover-up case before finally commencing.

The court decided on the day to separate the cases of Cho Kuk and Professor Jung for individual trials. With the case separation, Professor Jung will be tried in Criminal Division 25-2 (Presiding Judge Lim Jeong-yeop), while Cho Kuk will be tried in Criminal Division 21. However, since they are co-defendants in the family corruption allegations, there remains the possibility that they may appear as witnesses in each other's cases.

Previously, the prosecution requested the court to merge Cho Kuk's case with Professor Jung's ongoing trial concerning the private equity fund allegations, which is being heard in Criminal Division 25-2. However, Professor Jung's trial court denied this request, stating, "We will listen to the defendant's opinion at the first pretrial hearing of Cho Kuk's case and then decide whether to separate only Professor Jung's part."

From the investigation stage, Cho Kuk's defense has denied all charges, criticizing the prosecution for conducting an excessive investigation. They also strongly condemned the indictment as an "Indian rainmaking ritual." The defense maintained the same stance during the hearing.