Cho Young-nam 'Painting Forgery' Acquittal Confirmed... Jin Joong-kwon: "A Verdict That Opened the Eyes of the Korean Art World After 103 Years"

Cho Young-nam, Final Acquittal Confirmed After 5 Years on Painting Forgery Fraud Charges

Jin Joong-kwon, former professor at Dongyang University / Photo by Asia Economy DB

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Suwan] On the 25th, as the Supreme Court confirmed the not guilty verdict on singer Jo Young-nam's (75) charge of fraud related to painting ghostwriting, former Dongyang University professor Jin Joong-kwon evaluated the ruling as one that awakened the Korean art world after 103 years, saying, "The Korean art world has now reached 1917."

On the same day, Jin posted on his Facebook, calling the court's decision a "clear judgment," and said, "It accurately penetrates the essence of the case and clearly refutes the prosecution's indictment logic one by one."

He then focused on the Supreme Court's use of the term "judicial restraint." He pointed out, "Not only did the court uphold the second trial ruling that acquitted based on issues of authorship in contemporary art and the modern definition of 'artist,' but what is noteworthy is the use of the term 'judicial restraint.'"

He added, "This means that judgments on art works are not matters for the judiciary to intervene in recklessly, and by using the clear expression 'judicial restraint,' it has established a precedent to prevent similar cases from occurring in the future."

He further stated, "There needs to be reflection on what caused both the public and experts to fall into a 19th-century artistic conception and what the root of this dreadful anachronism was."

He also said, "Until now, the Korean art world had aspects reminiscent of the Joseon Dynasty, viewing artists not by their function but by their status."

Finally, he pointed out, "The realm of the 'aesthetic' has been defended," adding, "It was the art world that entrusted the aesthetic domain, whose life is autonomy, to the 'trusteeship' of criminal law."

Singer Jo Young-nam heading to the grand courtroom to attend the public hearing on the 28th of last month / Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier on the same day, Jin shared another post on Facebook sharing the article about the Supreme Court's confirmation of Jo Young-nam's not guilty verdict on painting ghostwriting, saying, "I was heavily criticized because of this, but now it's over. It was almost like a collective lynching. It wouldn't hurt if experts in the field were listened to a bit," and added, "Well, except for a few people, many experts oddly sided with the prosecution in this commotion. This case revealed the true face of Korea's expert groups."

He continued, "The public may not know, but even the expert groups who should know that contemporary art has been around for over 100 years still have an understanding of art stuck in the 19th-century Impressionist era. They should be ashamed," he criticized.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Kwon Soon-il) confirmed the second trial ruling that acquitted Jo Young-nam, who was tried on charges of fraud for selling paintings to others without disclosing that they were ghostwritten.

Jo Young-nam was accused of deceiving victims by claiming that paintings drawn by painter A and others from September 2011 to January 2015 were his own works and selling them.

In the first trial, Jo Young-nam was found guilty and sentenced to 10 months in prison with a 2-year probation, but he was acquitted in the second trial.

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