Rep. Josujin Denies Intentionality in First Trial on 'Asset Underreporting' Charges

On the morning of the 2nd, Jo Su-jin, a member of the People Power Party who was indicted on charges of violating the Public Official Election Act during the April 15 general election, appeared at a trial session held at the Seoul Western District Court in Mapo-gu, Seoul, responding to questions from the press.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] On the 2nd, People Power Party lawmaker Jo Su-jin (48), who was indicted for underreporting her assets during the general election last April, argued in her first trial that "it was a mistake caused by not knowing the reporting guidelines."

At the first hearing held at the Seoul Western District Court Criminal Division 11 (Presiding Judge Moon Byung-chan), Jo's side stated, "We admit most of the facts in the indictment, but we did not intentionally report false assets knowing they were false, nor did we underreport assets with the purpose of winning the election."

Earlier, the Seoul Western District Prosecutors' Office indicted Jo on October 15 this year without detention for violating the Public Official Election Act. Jo reported assets worth 1.85 billion KRW (as of the end of December last year) during the general election, but after becoming a member of the National Assembly, she registered assets exceeding 3 billion KRW (as of the end of May this year), an increase of over 1.1 billion KRW.

The prosecution viewed that Jo deliberately omitted 500 million KRW in bonds among these assets and submitted some assets to the party knowing that the contents might be false, and publicly announced false facts with the purpose of winning the election.

Jo's side explained that the omission of 500 million KRW in private bonds and the omission of Jo's son were due to misunderstandings, and that the underreporting and omission of the spouse's securities and financial assets occurred because the spouse did not provide detailed information.

Jo's next trial is scheduled for the 23rd of this month.

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