"Gwon-ah, It's Mom"... Director Park Jeong-sook, Mother of Cho Guk's Brother, Steps in to Support at Trial

[Asia Economy Reporter Cho Sung-pil] Park Jeong-sook, chairman of the Woongdong Foundation and mother of Cho Gwon (53), the younger brother of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, appeared as a witness in his trial.

On the 20th, Park appeared as a witness at the 8th hearing of Cho's trial held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Kim Mi-ri) and expressed her feelings, saying, "My husband ruined Ya (Cho Gwon)'s life, and because of the school (Woongdong Foundation), our household is in this state, but to say it's because of Cho Gwon makes me furious."

She stated that the root cause of this case was her late husband, the former chairman of the Woongdong Foundation, Cho Byeon-hyun, and that the allegations related to the false lawsuit involving the Woongdong Foundation that Cho is facing are not true.

Park also repeatedly expressed that "my son is pitiful." During the trial, when Cho got up from the defendant's seat to go to the restroom, she tenderly called out, "Gwon-ah, it's mom."

◆Former Chairman Park: "Father ruined son's life" = Park claimed that the bankruptcy of Goryeo General Construction, which triggered Cho's lawsuit against the Woongdong Foundation for construction payment claims, was "because of the Woongdong Foundation."

Cho, the late former chairman who once operated Goryeo General Construction, had borrowed 3.5 billion won from Dongnam Bank between 1995 and 1998 for the construction of the Woongdong Foundation's new building, which he managed. This debt ultimately led to the bankruptcy of Goryeo General Construction.

Park further testified that her late husband's mishandling immediately after the bankruptcy led Cho to file a lawsuit against the Woongdong Foundation.

She said, "When Goryeo General Construction went bankrupt, the first thing they paid was the labor costs to their business partners. At that time, newspapers reported that 'Goryeo Construction handled the bankruptcy well,'" but added, "My husband paid everyone else's money but did not give money to his son (Cho Gwon)."

Cho's side has claimed that during the construction of the Woongdong Foundation's new school building, they subcontracted civil engineering work from Goryeo General Construction but did not receive payment, which was the basis for filing a lawsuit against the Woongdong Foundation in 2006.

On the other hand, the prosecution views that Cho fabricated the construction contract to make it appear as if his construction company had a claim against the school during the new school building construction and filed a false lawsuit.

The prosecution believes that this lawsuit caused the Woongdong Foundation damages amounting to about 11.5 billion won.

The prosecution questioned Chairman Park based on this perspective. However, Park refrained from commenting, saying, "I don't know the details," and "I only heard that they won the lawsuit."

She also raised her voice, saying, "Ya (Cho Gwon) is so pitiful," and "His father ruined his life."

[Image source=Yonhap News]

◆"Cho Gwon's divorce was not a sham... planning to reunite later" = Park testified about the controversial relationship between Cho and his wife, saying, "Their affection was good, but they divorced because of money."

She said, "If they didn't divorce, both would become beggars, so I told them to divorce," and "I was thinking of reuniting them (Cho Gwon and his ex-wife) once the financial issues were resolved."

According to Cho's indictment, after borrowing 1.4 billion won in business funds secured by the Woongdong Foundation's claims and failing to repay, he transferred the claims to his wife and legally divorced in 2009 without the intention of a real divorce.

The prosecution applied charges of evading compulsory execution, believing that Cho conducted a sham divorce to avoid enforcement on the claims.

However, Park testified that she "did not know" about the transfer of claims. She said, "I don't know the details, so I can't explain," and "I only know that Ya (Cho Gwon) gave up the claims." She also said, "My daughter-in-law also doesn't know about the claim transfer."

Cho and his ex-wife are also suspected of conducting sham transactions involving apartments and villas with Jeong Gyeong-sim, a professor at Dongyang University and wife of former Minister Cho Kuk.

It is suspected that they dispersed real estate under false names to avoid becoming multi-homeowners.

Park also answered "I don't know" regarding these allegations.

The prosecution expressed difficulty accepting Park's continuous "I don't know" responses.

The prosecution said, "The witness is the defendant's mother but also the chairman of the Woongdong Foundation," and added, "While we understand the defendant's testimony of 'I don't remember,' we cannot easily overlook the fact that the foundation's chairman claims ignorance."

◆"I'm not a prodigy like the prosecutors" = The prosecution also questioned Park about the allegations of recruitment corruption related to Cho.

The recruitment corruption allegations involve Cho receiving over 100 million won in bribes from two applicants while hiring social studies teachers at Woongdong Middle School under the school foundation in 2016-2017, and then providing exam questions and answers.

Park was known to have overseen the preparation of the first exam questions and requested Professor Jeong, her eldest daughter-in-law, to prepare them.

However, Park also answered "I don't know" regarding how Cho leaked the exam questions and answers.

She claimed that when she received the exam papers from Professor Jeong, they were sealed in an envelope, and she never gave them to her son, Cho.

Park said, "I don't know. I don't know how Ya (Cho Gwon) took out the exam papers."

When asked by the prosecution if Cho had ever asked her to select a specific applicant during the document screening process, she replied, "I scolded him once, saying, 'Other private schools take bribes for hiring, so let's do the same,' but I told him off."

Cho sighed deeply at this testimony.

However, regarding the 10 million won deposited into an account in Park's name during the teacher recruitment, she repeatedly answered, "I don't know."

When the prosecution suspected that this 10 million won was part of the bribe for teacher recruitment and asked, "How did you receive the money?" Park raised her voice, saying, "How should I remember? I'm an 80-year-old grandmother, not a prodigy like the prosecutors. Am I a prodigy?"

When the prosecution again asked, "Isn't it possible that the defendant received bribes and gave some to the witness?" Park retorted, "Oh no... That kid (Cho Gwon) secretly acted as a broker. If he gave me 10 million won, it would be exposed. Is he that stupid?"

◆Court to hold closing arguments on the 22nd... verdict expected next month = The court initially planned to conclude all arguments and proceed with closing arguments on this day.

However, it was inevitably postponed as Cho's defense attorney was unable to prepare the closing argument summary.

The defense attorney said, "It's absurd, but the 60-page closing argument summary I prepared until the day before was all lost during transfer to a portable disk," and requested, "Could you reschedule the hearing two days later?"

The court accepted Cho's side's request and decided to hold closing arguments on the afternoon of the 22nd.

The court also indicated its intention to hold the verdict trial for Cho next month.

The court said, "The defendant's detention period is nearing its end, so there is no time," and "The verdict must be delivered by May 12 at the latest."

The exact date of the verdict is expected to be decided after the closing arguments on the 22nd.

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