'Doctor's Room Criminal Organization' First Trial on the 13th of Next Month... Jo Joo-bin Witness Examination

Operator Jo Joo-bin of the Telegram 'Baksa Bang,' who threatened women including minors to produce and distribute illegal sexual exploitation videos [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] The formal trial for Jo Joo-bin and his accomplices, who produced and distributed child sexual exploitation materials in the Telegram 'Baksa Bang', charged with organizing and operating a criminal organization, will begin on the 13th of next month. Jo will appear as a witness at the first trial.

The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 30 (Chief Judge Hyunwoo Lee) announced this on the afternoon of the 23rd after holding the second pretrial hearing for Jo and others, who were indicted on charges including organizing and operating a criminal organization. The court stated, "Since the defendants do not agree with Jo’s suspect statement, the witness examination for Jo will proceed as soon as all procedures are completed at the first trial date."

On this day, the lawyers of five accomplices, including Lee from 'Taepyeongyang', who were indicted alongside Jo, mostly admitted to the facts stated in the prosecution’s indictment but denied the charge of organizing a criminal organization. They also stated that they would dispute the proof of this charge in future trials, believing it impossible to prove.

Lee and others have maintained the position that they merely committed crimes under unilateral orders from Jo without any awareness of forming or operating a criminal organization. Accordingly, the accomplices’ lawyers are expected to emphasize during the witness examination next month that they were "only used in Jo’s crimes."

Earlier, the prosecution judged 'Baksa Bang' to be a criminal organization composed of 38 members and sent eight people, including Jo, to trial on charges of organizing and operating a criminal organization. Among them, six are currently on trial for these charges. The court plans to later merge the existing child sex crime cases with the criminal organization charges.

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