"If Joguk Becomes President, the Country Will Collapse"… Joguk Says "I Can't Believe My Ears, It's Shocking"

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk shared former Dongyang University President Choi Sung-hae's remark, "If Cho Kuk becomes president, the country will be ruined," on his Facebook on the 18th, saying, "I doubted my ears. It's outrageous." [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Sumi] Former Dongyang University President Choi Seonghae's remark that "If Cho Kuk becomes president, the country will collapse" was met with former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk saying, "I doubted my ears. It's outrageous."

On the 18th, Cho shared a report from Daegu MBC containing Choi's remarks on his Facebook and made this statement.

Previously, Choi testified during the first trial of Jung Kyungshim, Cho Kuk's wife and a professor at Dongyang University, that he had never authorized the certificate of commendation (표창장) for Cho Kuk's daughter, implying that Professor Jung's side had forged the certificate.

According to the Daegu MBC report that day, Choi said, "As long as Professor Jung Kyungshim is at our school, the school will proceed abnormally, so I was in a crisis at that time." He added, "I thought if Cho Kuk became Minister of Justice and then president in order, the country would collapse."

Choi also expressed a critical view of President Moon Jaein. He said, "The current administration is doing very wrong," and asked, "Where is a president who thinks more about the people of China and North Korea than our own people?"

Meanwhile, Professor Jung, who was sentenced to four years in prison in the first trial on charges including private equity fund and admission corruption involving her children, claimed in the April appeal trial that Choi was aware of the existence of the certificate of commendation her daughter received.

Regarding the forgery allegations of the Dongyang University certificate, Professor Jung's side argued, "The element of 'forgery' requires that the document's issuer, President Choi Seonghae, must be unaware of the document's existence. There is no reason for Professor Jung, who obtained approval for the gifted education project from President Choi, to forge the certificate without informing him."

They also raised the possibility of evidence contamination, stating that a USB was plugged in for about one minute during the voluntary submission process of the PC in the Dongyang University lecturer's lounge where the forged certificate was found.

At that time, the prosecution rebutted this by saying, "This is a malicious attempt to tarnish and politically inflate suspicions."

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