Choi Seong-hae "Received Persuasive Call from Jo Guk... Did Not Approve Certificate of Commendation" (Summary)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Former Dongyang University President Choi Seonghae appeared as a witness on the 30th at the criminal trial of Jeong Gyeongshim, a Dongyang University professor and wife of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk.

On that day in court, he testified, "I have never given a certificate of commendation to Cho Min, the daughter of former Minister Cho, nor have I ever been informed about it." He also revealed that before the prosecution's investigation on September 5 last year, "Former Minister Cho, Professor Jeong, Chairman Yoo Si-min of the Roh Moo-hyun Foundation, and Assemblyman Kim Doo-kwan of the Democratic Party made coaxing phone calls to me, asking me to treat the certificate of commendation as if it had been delegated to Professor Jeong."

On the other hand, Professor Jeong's side focused on challenging the credibility of former President Choi's testimony. A fierce battle ensued between the prosecution and Professor Jeong's side over former President Choi's testimony, who had consistently denied outside the courtroom the fact of awarding the certificate of commendation to former Minister Cho's daughter.

◆ "Never issued a certificate of commendation to Cho Kuk's daughter" = The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 25-2 (Presiding Judge Lim Jeong-yeop) conducted witness questioning of former President Choi during the 8th trial of Professor Jeong, who was indicted on charges including forgery of private documents, starting at 10 a.m. that day.

Former President Choi, who took the witness stand, answered the prosecution's question about the truthfulness of Cho's statement regarding the circumstances of receiving the certificate of commendation recorded in Cho's suspect interrogation record, saying, "I did not even know that certificates of commendation were being awarded."

When asked, "Did you first learn about the existence of a certificate of commendation issued in the witness's name for Cho Min through media reports?" he replied, "I first learned about it through media reports."

Former President Choi answered "No" to the question, "Is it possible for Dongyang University to issue a certificate of commendation in the name of the president without the president's approval or authorization?" The prosecution also asked, "During your tenure as president, did you ever issue an award called the 'Best Volunteer Award' that Cho Min received?" to which he replied, "No."

When asked, "Have you ever received any verbal report regarding the issuance of a certificate of commendation to Cho Min?" he answered, "No, I have not."

◆ "Received coaxing phone calls from Cho Kuk before prosecution investigation" = Former President Choi testified that on the morning of September 4 last year, the day after the prosecution's search and seizure of Dongyang University's research lab, he was asked by former Minister Cho to distribute a press release stating that the issuance of the certificate of commendation had been delegated. According to former President Choi, he avoided giving a direct answer to Cho's repeated requests by saying, "I cannot decide alone and need to review with the faculty in charge and the regulations."

When asked by the prosecutor what he thought when he received the call from former Minister Cho, he replied, "I felt unpleasant, and I was intimidated because I thought that if he really became Minister of Justice, he would make even bigger demands."

Former President Choi also testified that Professor Jeong called several times, and after talking on the phone, sent a text message requesting that the press release be issued in the morning. He further testified that on the same day, Chairman Yoo and Assemblyman Kim also called and asked him to comply with Professor Jeong's request.

This testimony contradicts the claims of former Minister Cho and others. Earlier, former Minister Cho, Chairman Yoo, and Assemblyman Kim acknowledged the phone calls with former President Choi but stated that the calls were for fact-checking purposes and did not involve requests to acknowledge the delegation of authority to issue the certificate of commendation.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆ Professor Jeong's side focuses on challenging the credibility of former President Choi's testimony = Professor Jeong's defense attorney presented circumstances during cross-examination starting at 2 p.m. that day to undermine the credibility of former President Choi's claims.

Contrary to former President Choi's statement during the morning prosecution questioning that he was unaware of the certificate forgery allegations before September 3 last year, the defense pointed out suspicious circumstances that in August, lawmakers from the Liberty Korea Party (now the United Future Party) had already sent related inquiry letters to Dongyang University and staff had discussed countermeasures.

In response, former President Choi said, "At that time, lawmakers sent more than five inquiry letters a day. There were so many that I could not check them all, and the staff did not report each one to me."

He added, "If the report from the staff meetings had included Professor Jeong's case, I would remember it. I have no memory of receiving such a report. If I had been informed of the existence of Cho Min's certificate before the prosecution's search and seizure, I would have initiated an investigation at that time."

The defense continued to ask questions aimed at shaking the credibility of former President Choi's testimony, such as "Isn't it true that you cannot remember all certificates issued by Dongyang University?" and "There are quite a few certificates approved by the vice president; how can you remember all the issuance details?"

Former President Choi rebutted each time, saying, "There were not many certificates, and final approval goes through me. If it were Professor Jeong's case, I would have reviewed it again and definitely remembered it."

◆ "Choi Seonghae was refused a suit gift by Cho Kuk" = The defense also mentioned that in May 2017, when former Minister Cho was appointed Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs, former President Choi wanted to send a tailor to his home to make a suit as a congratulatory gift, but Professor Jeong refused.

Former President Choi said, "I do not remember whether it was refused directly or if Professor Jeong asked former Minister Cho and then refused." When the defense asked, "Anyway, was it refused?" he answered, "Yes."

The defense also raised suspicions that in August 2018, Dongyang University requested a favor from former Minister Cho to avoid being designated as a university subject to quota reduction but was refused.

When former President Choi denied the allegation, the defense presented circumstances showing that former President Choi attempted to contact former Minister Cho's son.

A KakaoTalk message from September 2018, disclosed by the defense, shows former Minister Cho's son telling Professor Jeong, "President Choi called me, but I ignored it for now," and Professor Jeong replying, "Why did you do that?" Former President Choi explained, "I contacted him to give a box of natural cider that former Minister Cho's son likes."

◆ Jeong Gyeongshim called the youngest sibling, and Cho Min was talked about as a daughter-in-law = Former President Choi testified that before the certificate controversy arose, he had a good relationship with Professor Jeong and the family of former Minister Cho.

When asked by the defense, "Do you know that inside Dongyang University, Professor Jeong was trusted so much that she was even called the youngest sibling?" he denied, saying, "I do not know well," but he said he had dined several times with former Minister Cho's family at luxury hotels in Seoul, and their children were also present at these gatherings.

Former President Choi especially said about Cho Min, the daughter of former Minister Cho, "I have told acquaintances that I want to take her as a daughter-in-law." In fact, in the summer of 2014, he testified that he invited his son to a meal with Cho Min, creating a setting similar to a blind date.

Additionally, during cross-examination that day, it was revealed that former President Choi kept photos of Cho Min, which he received from Professor Jeong, on his mobile phone for a considerable period and showed special affection by inviting Cho Min to a famous opera performance held at the Seoul Arts Center.

As questioning unrelated to the charges continued, the court repeatedly requested the defense to keep questions brief, saying, "There are questions that do not need to be asked. Please keep it concise."

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