Court: "Yoo Jae-su accepted 42.21 million won in bribes"... Defense argument of Cho Kuk collapsed

Cho "Issue not serious" ended with resignation
Law proves guilty verdict corresponds to severe disciplinary action for public officials

Cho likely to argue alternative logic that "No obligation to request investigation"

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Cho and Jeongyun Lee] As the court ruled former Busan Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Yoo Jae-soo guilty of bribery, it is expected to have a considerable impact on the trial of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, which is linked to this case. Cho Kuk had justified halting the inspection of Yoo by arguing that "the matter was not serious," but this part has now been undermined.

Article 5 of the Public Officials' Misconduct Handling Regulations stipulates that "if the degree of misconduct is judged to correspond to severe disciplinary action as defined in the Public Officials Disciplinary Decree, resignation with honor shall not be permitted." Furthermore, according to the annex of the regulation, if the property benefits such as money or entertainment exceed 1 million KRW, a resolution for severe disciplinary action must be requested, and severe disciplinary actions are defined as "dismissal, removal, or demotion." In Yoo's case, combining the court's judgment and the relevant regulations, he received property benefits exceeding 1 million KRW (42.21 million KRW), which corresponds to severe disciplinary action. In other words, his resignation should not have been accepted.

However, at the first trial held on the 8th of this month at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Kim Miri), Cho Kuk's side argued that "the degree of Yoo's misconduct was minor, so instead of transferring the case to related agencies for follow-up measures, the final decision-maker exercised personnel authority to notify personnel action," asserting that it was a "conclusion, not a suspension, of the inspection." On the other hand, Lee In-geol, former head of the special inspection team who appeared as a witness at the time, testified that regarding Yoo's misconduct, "I wrote the report strongly with the thought that I should inform the chief (Cho Kuk) that it was a serious matter, but the situation was resolved at the level of accepting the resignation." Lee and the other special inspection team members considered Yoo's misconduct a serious matter requiring further inspection, but Cho Kuk regarded it as a matter to be concluded by accepting the resignation and thus ended the inspection.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

However, on the 22nd, the court recognized 42.21 million KRW out of 49.56 million KRW as bribes related to official duties and with quid pro quo in Yoo's first trial verdict. The court stated, "The responsibility is not light as it can undermine social trust."

Prosecutors have so far argued based on this logic that Cho Kuk ended the inspection without appropriate measures such as requesting an investigation or transferring the case, thereby obstructing the exercise of rights by the special inspection team members. The charge applied is abuse of authority under Article 123 of the Criminal Act. As the court supports this claim, prosecutors are expected to intensify their offensive under the frame of "inspection suspension" in future trials. On the other hand, since the defense that "the matter was not serious" has collapsed, Cho Kuk's side is likely to present alternative arguments. In previous trials, Cho Kuk's side argued that "at the time, the Yoo Jae-soo misconduct case was a situation where further inspection permitted by law was not possible," and "requesting an investigation or transferring the case to investigative agencies is not mandatory."

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