Handonghun "Chumiae, What Evidence Supports 'Jeong Gyeongshim Not Guilty' Claim... It's Not Something That Can Be Forced"

Handonghun "The Court Judges the Private Equity Fund as a Serious Crime"

Former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae and Chief Prosecutor Han Dong-woon (from left). / Photo by Yonhap News

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Yeeun] Prosecutor Han Dong-hoon directly refuted former Minister of Justice Choo Mi-ae's claim that "Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim of Dongyang University was acquitted of all charges related to the private equity fund."

Han, who led the investigation into former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's family as head of the Anti-Corruption and Strong Crime Division at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, issued a statement to the press on the 12th, criticizing former Minister Choo by saying, "It doesn't work just by insisting."

Previously, on the 11th, former Minister Choo posted on her social media (SNS) regarding Professor Jeong's verdict, stating, "The more I think about it, the more regrettable and unfortunate the verdict is," and "The private equity fund case, which was initially presumed guilty, was all acquitted, and the cases fought over as separate investigations became a stumbling block."

In response, Prosecutor Han said on the 12th, "The appellate court's verdict and explanatory materials specify that the guilty verdicts for insider trading, violation of the Financial Real Name Act, and crimes of concealing criminal proceeds are 'related to the Co-Link private equity fund,'" and pointed out, "I don't know what Choo Mi-ae is looking at to keep lying that all are acquitted."

He added, "Among the 11 crimes related to the private equity fund, six were sentenced guilty in the appellate court's verdict, so it doesn't work just because a powerful person insists."

Former Dongyang University Professor Jeong Kyung-shim. /Photo by Yonhap News

Earlier, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 1-2 on the 11th judged that Professor Jeong's insider trading of stocks after receiving undisclosed important information from Cho Beom-dong, nephew of former Minister Cho who operated Co-Link, "constitutes a serious crime that undermines the market economy order."

Prosecutor Han referred to parts of the appellate court's verdict on private equity fund-related crimes, such as "constitutes a serious crime" and "the culpability is by no means light," explaining, "(The court) made a clear judgment that crimes related to the private equity fund are serious crimes."

He also said, "This case was based on all investigative clues raised as reasonable doubts and accusations by the media and civil society during the ministerial verification process," and added, "It is unreasonable to disparage it as a separate investigation when nothing deviates from that."

Prosecutor Han further emphasized, "Choo Mi-ae also said that investigating was wrong because it was not a power-related corruption," and stated, "Although it is difficult to uniformly define power-related corruption, the Cho Kuk case clearly became power-related corruption the moment power was fully mobilized to block the investigation of the powerful figure Cho Kuk and retaliate against the prosecution from the start of the investigation."

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