Questions Raised in Cho Kuk Trial... Why Were Kim Kyung-soo, Yoon Gun-young, and Cheon Kyung-deuk Not Indicted?

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The first trial of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk once again revealed how persistently key pro-Moon figures engaged in efforts to exonerate former Busan Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Yoo Jae-soo by covering up the Blue House's special inspection.

Nevertheless, some related figures such as Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongnam Province, Yoon Gun-young, former Blue House Office of National Policy Planning Director, and Cheon Kyung-deuk, former Senior Administrative Officer of the General Secretariat, were not indicted.

This contrasts with former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Baek Won-woo, who was indicted on charges of the same exoneration activities.

Regarding this, the legal community has analyzed that "although the acts were illegal, there is no law to punish them."

Kim Kyung-soo, Governor of Gyeongnam Province

◆ "Exoneration petitions from pro-Moon figures... experienced psychological pressure" = At the first trial on the charge of abuse of authority against former Minister Cho, held on the 8th under the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Kim Mi-ri), former Blue House Special Inspection Team Leader Lee In-geol appeared as a witness.

He was the person in charge of overseeing the inspection of former Deputy Mayor Yoo, who served as Director of the Financial Policy Bureau of the Financial Services Commission in 2017 when Cho was Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs.

During prosecution questioning, former Team Leader Lee testified that he received exoneration petitions in a reproachful tone from former Administrative Officer Cheon during the inspection process of former Deputy Mayor Yoo.

When the prosecution asked, "Is it true that Cheon Kyung-deuk repeatedly said, 'Saving Yoo Jae-soo would help this government. Can't you overlook it?'" he replied, "I don't remember the exact wording, but it was in that spirit, and I felt psychological pressure."

During the questioning that day, it was also indirectly mentioned that Governor Kim and former Director Yoon engaged in exoneration activities for former Deputy Mayor Yoo.

Former Team Leader Lee had testified during the prosecution investigation that "At that time, Anti-Corruption Secretary Park Hyung-chul told the Senior Secretary (Cho Kuk) that many people were calling about the Yoo Jae-soo case," confirming the truth of this statement again.

According to the indictment against former Minister Cho, Governor Kim and former Director Yoon asked former Secretary Baek, "Yoo Jae-soo is someone who suffered with us during the Roh Moo-hyun administration," and "He is currently under inspection and claims it is unfair, so please look favorably upon him."

Former Secretary Baek then conveyed the message from Governor Kim and others, "Please look favorably upon Yoo Jae-soo," to former Minister Cho.

Ultimately, former Secretary Baek was indicted in January on charges of abuse of authority for these exoneration activities and stood in court alongside former Minister Cho that day.

Yoon Gun-young, former Chief of the Blue House National Situation Room

◆ Same exoneration activities... Kim Kyung-soo, Yoon Gun-young, etc. not indicted = At the time of indicting former Secretary Baek, the prosecution decided not to indict Governor Kim, former Director Yoon, and former Administrative Officer Cheon, who engaged in the same exoneration activities.

They were judged to be external figures outside the inspection line, that is, outside the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs office, and thus distant from the charge of abuse of authority.

Article 123 of the Criminal Act (Abuse of Authority) stipulates that a public official who abuses their authority to cause another person to perform an act not obligated or to obstruct the exercise of rights shall be punished by imprisonment of up to five years, suspension of qualifications for up to ten years, or a fine of up to 10 million won.

However, for the crime of abuse of authority to be established, the act committed by the public official must be within the scope of the authority granted by their official duties.

If not, the crime cannot be established. This means that if there is no authority to abuse, abuse cannot be recognized.

Governor Kim and others were reportedly able to avoid indictment due to this legal interpretation issue.

Baek Won-woo, former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs [Photo by Yonhap News]

◆ Could not be brought to court due to lack of applicable law = The legal community analyzes that the prosecution at the time examined various legal theories to consider charges applicable to Governor Kim and others.

A lawyer with a prosecution background said, "At that time, the prosecution was conducting an all-out investigation toward the ruling party," adding, "Naturally, if illegal acts had been found among key pro-Moon figures such as Governor Kim, they would have been indicted."

Some in the legal community believe the prosecution primarily considered applying the charge of obstruction of official duties.

Obstruction of official duties (Article 136, Paragraph 2 of the Criminal Act) is established when a person uses violence or threats to coerce or intimidate a public official in the performance of their duties or to cause them to resign, punishable by imprisonment of up to five years.

Governor Kim and others could be suspected of coercing public officials (such as former Secretary Baek) in the performance of their duties.

However, the concept of 'coercion' here is abstract and ambiguous, making the establishment of the crime somewhat unclear compared to other crimes, according to the legal community.

Accordingly, it is interpreted that the prosecution also felt burdened to apply such charges, which are difficult to prove, against key pro-Moon figures.

There is also a view that the application of the crime of obstruction of business (Article 314 of the Criminal Act) was considered.

The crime of obstruction of business is established when a person's business is obstructed by force, where force includes violence, threats, and pressure due to social status.

Governor Kim and others could be suspected of exerting pressure through exoneration activities based on social status.

However, precedent holds that 'business' does not include 'official duties.' This means that the charge of obstruction of business could not be applied to anyone in the Yoo Jae-soo inspection cover-up case from the start.

A lawyer in Seocho-dong said, "To punish ruling party figures who petitioned for exoneration of former Deputy Mayor Yoo, the charge of obstruction of official duties should be applied, but since the methods of obstruction of official duties are limited to violence, threats, and deception, and do not include 'force' as in obstruction of business, it was judged that punishment was not possible."

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