The Trial of Cho Kuk Begins... Likely to Be Tried Separately from His Wife Jung Kyung-shim (Comprehensive)

Denial of Cho's Charges After 7 Months of Allegations
"The Indictment Is a One-Sided Claim by the Prosecutor"

[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.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Kim Mi-ri) held the first pretrial hearing for Cho and others on the morning of the 20th. This came seven months after the initial allegations of corruption involving the Cho family were raised in August last year, related complaints were filed, and the prosecution launched a large-scale search and investigation.

The case was originally scheduled to begin its first trial procedure on January 29, but after being merged with the Yoo Jae-soo supervision cover-up case, the date was postponed twice before finally proceeding. However, as this was a pretrial hearing, Cho did not appear in court.

The court decided on the day to separate the trials of Cho and Professor Jung. The court stated, "Regarding the charges against Professor Jung before our court, we will respect the defendant's intention concerning the consolidation," and requested, "Defense attorneys should consult sufficiently with their clients and submit a motion for case consolidation before the main trial begins."

With the case separation decided, Professor Jung is expected to be tried in Criminal Division 25-2 (Presiding Judge Lim Jeong-yeop), while Cho 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.

Cho's defense team has denied all charges, pointing out that the prosecution conducted an excessive investigation from the investigation stage. They have strongly criticized the prosecution's indictment as an "Indian rainmaking ritual." The defense maintained the same stance on this day. The lawyer said, "The charges are the prosecutor's unilateral claims and the facts have been distorted," adding, "We deny all allegations."

Previously, Cho was indicted on 12 charges in two rounds related to his children's admission corruption, private equity fund suspicions, and the Yoo Jae-soo former Busan Deputy Mayor's supervision cover-up allegations.

He was first brought to trial in December last year on charges including involvement in his children's admission corruption. Regarding the scholarship his daughter received from Pusan National University Medical School, charges of bribery and violation of the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act were applied.

Cho is also accused of conspiring with Professor Jung to forge or falsely issue his children's Dongyang University commendation certificates and Seoul National University Public Interest and Human Rights Law Center internship certificates, which were used in their admissions.

Additionally, he was indicted for falsely issuing an internship confirmation letter in the name of lawyer Choi Kang-wook in 2017, which was used for his son's graduate school admissions at Yonsei University and Korea University in October and November of that year.

During his tenure as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, Cho was obligated as a high-ranking official to place stocks in blind trusts or dispose of them, but he was indicted for holding stocks worth over 30 million KRW under the name of his brother-in-law and others, including shares of Coring PE, the operator of the so-called "Cho Kuk Fund," and 70,000 shares of WFM, a secondary battery company acquired by Coring PE.

The prosecution additionally indicted Cho in January this year on charges of deciding to halt the Blue House special inspection on former Deputy Mayor Yoo.

Cho's next trial is scheduled for 10:20 a.m. on the 17th of next month.

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