Jung Kyung-shim Sentenced to 4 Years in 2nd Trial... "Undermining Fairness in Admissions and Market Order" (Comprehensive Report 2)

Professor Jeong Kyung-shim of Dongyang University Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy reporters Seongpil Jo and Daehyun Kim] Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim of Dongyang University was sentenced to prison again in the appeal trial on the 11th. She was indicted on 15 charges including admission fraud involving her children and illegal investment in private equity funds, and was sentenced to four years in prison in the first trial, remaining in custody during the trial. The appellate court ruled that all charges related to admission fraud were guilty, as in the first trial. Although the charges related to private equity funds and evidence destruction differed somewhat from the first trial, most of the charges were also found guilty.

The Criminal Division 1-2 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Eom Sang-pil) sentenced Professor Jeong to four years in prison and a fine of 50 million won at the sentencing hearing that morning. They also ordered a confiscation of 10.61 million won. Compared to the first trial, the sentence was maintained, but the fine and confiscation amount were somewhat reduced. The first trial sentenced her to four years in prison, a fine of 500 million won, and confiscation of about 140 million won. The court pointed out, "The defendant continues to make claims that are difficult to consider reasonable in light of objective physical evidence and credible testimonies from related parties."

The court first upheld the first trial’s judgment that all of the so-called '7 major false credentials' of her daughter Cho Min were false. The internship certificates from Seoul National University Public Interest Human Rights Law Center and the Busan Aqua Palace Hotel were forged in collusion with former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, and the internship confirmations from Kongju National University, Dankook University, and Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) were falsely issued at Professor Jeong’s request, maintaining the original judgment.

Regarding the private equity fund allegations, the court found that Professor Jeong used undisclosed information obtained from Cho Beom-dong, a fifth cousin of former Minister Cho, to trade stocks and gain an unfair profit of 10 million won. The court acquitted all 120,000 shares of WFM stock purchased over-the-counter, finding guilt only for the shares bought on the market. In the first trial, 100,000 of the 120,000 WFM shares were found to violate the Capital Markets Act, concluding that Professor Jeong gained an unfair profit of 230 million won. However, the appellate court agreed with the first trial’s judgment that the charge of nominee transactions aimed at concealing assets was not incorrect.

Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim of Dongyang University Spouse Cho Kuk, Former Minister of Justice
[Image source=Yonhap News]

The charge of instructing evidence concealment, for which Kim Kyung-rok, the asset manager of former Minister Cho and his wife, was acquitted as a co-perpetrator in the first trial, was overturned. The appellate court ruled that Professor Jeong was not a co-perpetrator with Kim. Instead, Kim concealed evidence under Professor Jeong’s instructions, meaning she was the instigator. The court described Professor Jeong’s actions as an "abuse of the right to defense."

The court also upheld the first trial’s conclusion that the evidence from the Dongyang University lounge PC, which both sides fiercely disputed in the appeal, was legally admissible. The court explained, "The collection of evidence by executing a search warrant issued for other criminal facts after the indictment is lawful," and "According to the Criminal Procedure Act, seizure of voluntarily submitted items is possible even after indictment unless there are special circumstances, and there are no special circumstances that violate the basic principles of the Criminal Procedure Act such as party disposition or trial-centeredness."

Regarding sentencing, the court stated about the admission fraud charges, "The defendant undermined society’s trust in the fairness of the admission system," and "Considering the content and methods executed by the defendant, the process of obstructing admission screening work was very bad, showing poor criminal nature." On the private equity fund-related sentencing, the court criticized, "It caused distrust in the securities market and damaged the market economic order." Regarding the evidence destruction charges, the court pointed out, "When investigations into herself and her family began, she used her superior position to make it difficult to discover the substantive truth by instructing people who found it hard to refuse her orders." However, the court added, "Considering that the defendant is a first-time offender, appears to be in poor health, and that the WFM stock price fell so the actual gain from the Coring PE crime was not large."

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