Cho Kuk "Prosecutors Misunderstand the Concept of Inspection"... Only the Court's Judgment Remains

Cho, Mention of Article 7 in the Presidential Secretariat Organization Act
Explanation of the Blue House Special Inspection Team's Inspection Authority

Court: "Reviewing the Scope of Discretion Extensively"

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] "The prosecution fundamentally misunderstands the concept of inspection."

This is what former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk said in court on May 8, when his first trial was held. This statement is not recorded in the trial transcript. During the witness examination of former Blue House Special Inspection Team leader Lee In-geol, Cho Kuk spoke with former Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Baek Won-woo and others during a recess. This remark came up during that conversation, subtly revealing his sentiment that the prosecution confused the concept of inspection with investigation and indicted him on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of rights.

At the 8th hearing of this case held on the 3rd at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Kim Mi-ri), Cho Kuk directly explained the inspection conducted by the Blue House Special Inspection Team during the witness examination. When the defense attorney asked about Article 7 of the Presidential Secretariat Organization Regulations, the only legal provision related to the Special Inspection Team, Cho Kuk said, "The history of the creation of Article 7 of the Organization Regulations is very important," and proceeded to explain this part.

"Article 7 of the Organization Regulations was created by President Moon Jae-in, who was the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs during the Roh Moo-hyun administration. So why was this regulation created? Before that, police investigators were directly transferred to the Blue House to conduct investigations, known as the so-called 'Sajik-dong Team.' However, the Sajik-dong Team was notorious for abuse of power to the extent that the media and opposition parties raised issues. Therefore, President Moon, then Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, established Article 7 to prohibit investigations and limit activities to fact-finding and intelligence gathering. This should not be confused repeatedly, but since members of the Blue House Special Inspection Team are also from investigative agencies, there is a tendency to act as if conducting investigations." This means that the Special Inspection Team's inspection is limited to fact-finding and intelligence gathering.

This case arose when former prosecutor investigator Kim Tae-woo reported former Minister Cho Kuk to the Seoul Eastern District Prosecutors' Office in February last year, alleging that Cho Kuk had suppressed the inspection of former Busan Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Yoo Jae-soo. The prosecution launched an investigation and judged that Cho Kuk abused his authority as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs to unjustly halt the Special Inspection Team's inspection of Yoo, who was then Director-General of the Financial Services Commission's Policy Bureau. He was indicted under Article 123 of the Criminal Act (abuse of authority). The crime of abuse of authority is established when a public official abuses their authority to compel someone to perform an unnecessary act or obstruct the exercise of rights.

Former Busan Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs Yoo Jae-su [Image source=Yonhap News]

Former Minister Cho Kuk claims that, following the opinion of Anti-Corruption Secretary Park Hyung-chul at the time, fact-finding and intelligence gathering were conducted regarding former Deputy Mayor Yoo. As a result, misconduct was confirmed, but Yoo suddenly took sick leave and disappeared, refusing to respond to summons, making it impossible to continue the inspection. Afterwards, Secretary Park and the Special Inspection Team members had differing opinions, with some saying 'an investigation request should be made,' while former Secretary Baek argued 'personnel action should be taken.' Cho Kuk stated that he ended the inspection by accepting Yoo's resignation as a 'political judgment.'

Here, another point of contention between former Minister Cho Kuk and the prosecution arises. The prosecution argued that former Deputy Mayor Yoo's misconduct, including receiving bribes exceeding 10 million won, was serious enough to warrant an investigation request. Their basis was Article 7, Paragraph 2 of the Presidential Secretariat Organization Regulations: 'If it is judged that an investigation is necessary, the relevant investigative agency shall be requested or referred to conduct the investigation.' The prosecution also questioned whether the personnel action taken instead of an investigation request was influenced by a campaign to protect ruling party figures.

In the hearing that day, former Minister Cho Kuk responded, "Since former Deputy Mayor Yoo was a special relation of the Roh Moo-hyun administration and there was a campaign to protect him, and because it was within the jurisdiction of the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs, I instructed former Secretary Baek to assess the situation." He also explained regarding the acceptance of Yoo's resignation, "I only set a lower limit." Additional investigations or disciplinary actions were matters to be decided by the affiliated institution.

With the conclusion of the 8th hearing that day, the trial regarding former Minister Cho Kuk's 'alleged suppression of Yoo Jae-soo inspection' has entered its final stage. All witness examinations have been completed, and documentary evidence review will proceed at the trial on the 20th. The court requested both parties to submit briefs, stating, "We are reviewing the scope of discretionary authority, which is a key issue in this case."

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