Cho Kuk: "Those spreading nonsense like the 'Cho Kuk Fund'... will definitely be held legally accountable"

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who was indicted on charges of admission fraud involving his children, appeared at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong on the 25th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyun-joo] Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk warned that he would take legal action if false information related to the court ruling, which did not recognize some conspiracy relationships between his spouse, Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim of Dongyang University, and Cho Beom-dong, his fifth cousin and a key figure in the private equity fund investment allegations, is spread.

On the 30th, Cho posted on his Facebook, stating, "Now that the Supreme Court ruling on the private equity fund has been issued, we will definitely hold legally accountable those who spread nonsense such as 'This is Cho Kuk's fund,' 'This is a fund for Cho Kuk's political money,' or 'Jeong Gyeong-sim is an accomplice' both online and offline."

A post by former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk on Facebook on the 30th. Photo by former Minister Cho Kuk's Facebook capture.

Earlier that day, the Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Noh Jeong-hee) upheld the original sentence of 4 years imprisonment and a fine of 50 million won against Cho, who was indicted on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (embezzlement).

Cho was tried twice on charges including violations of the Capital Markets Act, embezzlement, and breach of trust, totaling 21 offenses, as he effectively operated the private equity fund management company, Kolink PE.

Among these, Professor Jeong was named as an accomplice in charges related to embezzlement of Kolink PE funds, false reporting to the Financial Services Commission, and instructing evidence destruction related to the private equity fund.

However, the first trial court ruled that it did not recognize the conspiracy relationship for some of the charges involving embezzlement of Kolink funds and false reporting to the Financial Services Commission, which were among Cho's allegations. The court judged that the money Cho received from Professor Jeong was a loan, not an investment, and it was difficult to see that they actively participated together.

However, the charge of instructing evidence destruction and concealment, which involved conspiracy with Professor Jeong, was recognized as guilty. After Cho Kuk was nominated in August 2019 and various suspicions arose, Cho allegedly instructed Kolink PE employees to delete materials mentioning the names of Professor Jeong and her siblings.

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