Representative of Company Acquired by Jo Guk Family Fund: "Jung Kyungshim Actually Provided Consulting"

[Asia Economy Reporter Oh Ju-yeon] Testimony in court revealed that the allegation that Professor Jeong Gyeong-shim of Dongyang University received 'false advisory fees' from a KOSDAQ-listed company is not true.

On the 23rd, at the continuation trial of Cho Beom-dong, the fifth cousin of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 24 (Presiding Judge So Byung-seok), Kim, CEO of WFM, appeared as a witness and testified, "It is true that Professor Jeong Gyeong-shim came and provided consulting."

From December 2018 to June last year, Professor Jeong received 1.4 million KRW in advisory fees from WFM, at 2 million KRW per month. There were suspicions that the advisory fees received by Professor Jeong were embezzled funds diverted in collusion with Cho Beom-dong.

However, CEO Kim stated, "I requested Cho Beom-dong to have two consultants for the company's English business," and accordingly, Professor Jeong actually played an advisory role.

Regarding the amount paid to Professor Jeong, CEO Kim explained, "When hiring external instructors, it is common to pay between 1.5 million and 2 million KRW."

However, CEO Kim testified that he thought such an advisory contract was inappropriate. He said, "If I were the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, I would have told them not to do such things to avoid rumors."

CEO Kim also mentioned that when Coringk PE was acquiring WFM, Cho Beom-dong referred to former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk, saying, "You have to listen to the elders in the family." However, in response to the court's question, "To the best of your knowledge, did former Minister Cho Kuk or former Professor Jeong Gyeong-shim get involved in the management process of WFM's acquisition?" he answered, "No."

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