'Wongdong Academy Corruption' Jo Guk's Brother Second Trial Verdict Today... Prosecution Seeks 6-Year Prison Sentence

Cho Kwon, the younger brother of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who was indicted on charges including false litigation and corruption in teacher recruitment / Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The appellate trial for Jo Kwon (the younger brother of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk), who was sentenced to prison in the first trial for charges including corruption in teacher recruitment at Woongdong Academy and a sham lawsuit, will be held.

According to the court on the 26th, the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Park Yeonwook) will conduct the appellate trial sentencing hearing for Jo, who was indicted on charges including breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, at 2 p.m. that day.

Previously, Jo was prosecuted for receiving 180 million KRW from two applicants while recruiting teachers for Woongdong Middle School from 2016 to the following year, during his tenure as the secretary-general of Woongdong Academy, and for passing on exam questions and answers. He is also accused of securing construction payment claims based on false construction work and filing a sham lawsuit against Woongdong Academy.

At the appellate trial’s closing arguments, the prosecution stated, "This is a case where employment brokers leaked exam questions in advance and traded teaching positions using teacher recruitment as bait," and called it "a shameless crime that forgets the essence of school education," requesting the same six-year prison sentence as in the first trial. They also said, "The direct victims of this case are the dozens of rejected applicants who unknowingly became mere stand-ins for one predetermined person."

The prosecution appealed, saying, "(Jo) destroyed evidence in preparation for a search and seizure after the crime and instructed accomplices to flee abroad and give false testimony to conceal the crime," arguing that the one-year prison sentence in the original trial was excessively light.

On the other hand, Jo’s defense attorney argued, "I want to ask whether this was really a crime serious enough to submit evidence from 30 years ago and conduct a search and seizure," and claimed, "This political accusation was made solely because Cho Kuk was his older brother."

In his final statement, Jo said, "I made a big mistake, including the issue of teacher recruitment. I have deeply reflected on it from the beginning until now." He added, "I feel sorry for causing harm even to my brother’s family because of me," and "I am deeply remorseful."

Last year, the first trial recognized only one charge of obstruction of business among Jo’s allegations, sentencing him to one year in prison and ordering a fine of 147 million KRW.

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