Court Denies Most of Jeong Gyeong-sim's Request to Access Investigation Records... "No Preliminary Investigation Content Before Cho Kuk's Nomination"

Professor Jung Kyung-shim, wife of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, Dongyang University
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin] The request to review investigation records filed by Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim of Dongyang University, who argued it was necessary to resolve suspicions that the prosecution conducted a preliminary investigation before former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk was nominated, was rejected.

The allegation of a prosecution preliminary investigation into former Minister Cho Kuk was raised last year by Yoo Si-min, chairman of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, during the ongoing investigation of Cho's family.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Criminal Division 25-2 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judges Lim Jeong-yeop, Kwon Seong-su, Kim Seon-hee) mostly dismissed Professor Jeong's application to review and copy investigation records.

The court stated, "Some of the materials were submitted by members of the National Assembly or civic groups between August 8 and 26 of last year to accuse Professor Jeong and former Minister Cho of false official document fabrication, and most of these were news articles reported around that time."

It added, "Other materials were crime recognition reports and investigation reports prepared between August 22 and October 25 of the same year. Since such accusations were filed and related articles were reported, the documents indicate the need to initiate investigations into Professor Jeong and former Minister Cho. However, there is no content supporting the claim that a preliminary investigation was conducted before August, as Professor Jeong asserted."

The prosecution materials requested by Professor Jeong’s side are known to include documents to verify whether the prosecution followed proper procedures when securing data such as Professor Jeong’s PC, and materials to determine whether the prosecution conducted a preliminary investigation before former Minister Cho was nominated.

Previously, Professor Jeong’s side applied to review crime recognition reports and investigation reports held by the prosecution, arguing that to prove the prosecution’s abuse of prosecutorial authority related to the forgery of certificates charge, it is necessary to confirm whether the prosecution conducted a preliminary investigation into former Minister Cho in advance.

On the other hand, the prosecution has maintained that the investigation into former Minister Cho was lawfully conducted based on complaints and accusations, and that the materials requested by Professor Jeong’s side are not subject to review, thus rejecting the request.

After receiving and reviewing the materials, the court sided with the prosecution.

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