Jung Kyung-shim and her son to testify as witnesses at Choi Kang-wook's trial today

Professor Jeong Kyung-shim, Dongyang University / Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Professor Jeong Gyeong-shim of Dongyang University and her son Jo are set to appear as witnesses together on the 15th at the trial of Choi Kang-wook, leader of the Open Democratic Party. The questioning will focus on allegations that Choi issued a false internship certificate for college admission purposes to Jo.

Judge Jeong Jong-geon of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 9 will hold a continuation hearing in the afternoon regarding Choi, who is charged with obstruction of business, and will conduct witness questioning of Professor Jeong and her son. Choi is on trial for allegedly issuing a false certificate stating that Professor Jeong and the son of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk interned at his law firm from January to October 2017, which was then used for graduate school admissions at Yonsei University and Korea University at the end of 2017.

The prosecution requested the witness summons for Professor Jeong and her son at the July 23 hearing, intending to confirm facts directly from the parties involved. At that time, the prosecution stated, "Professor Jeong exercised her right to remain silent regarding her son's internship activities, so it was not proven," and added, "To uncover the substantive truth, it is necessary to hear the testimonies of the parties involved, Professor Jeong and her son Jo, in court regarding the falsehood of the internship." Accordingly, the prosecution is expected to question Professor Jeong and her son about the circumstances under which they received the internship certificate from the law firm and whether the internship activities actually took place.

Choi Kang-wook, Leader of the Open Democratic Party / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

However, there is also a possibility that Professor Jeong and her son may refuse to testify in court. At the time of their witness selection, Choi’s defense attorney stated, "Since Professor Jeong is currently on trial for another case, the witness questioning would be meaningless," and added, "They may exercise their right to remain silent." The legal basis for exercising the right to remain silent is Article 148 of the Criminal Procedure Act, which grants the right to refuse testimony if the witness or their relatives may face punishment. Former Minister Cho, who recently appeared as a witness in Professor Jeong’s trial, also refused to answer all prosecution questions for the same reason.

Meanwhile, in a previous hearing, text messages from a mobile phone supporting the circumstances under which Choi issued the false internship certificate to Jo for admission purposes were disclosed. The text messages released by the prosecution show Professor Jeong saying, "(I) received (the internship certificate) well," to which Choi replied, "I hope it helps (the son of former Minister Cho) get accepted." The prosecution suspects, based on these messages, that Choi knew the internship certificate he wrote would be used for the former Minister Cho’s son’s graduate school admission. On the other hand, Choi’s side has claimed that they were unaware that the internship certificate would be used for admission purposes.

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