[Breaking] Jo Kwon Sentenced to 3 Years in Appeal Trial for Violating Labor Standards Act, Up from 1 Year by Chief Judge Kim Miri

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Seok-jin, Legal Affairs Specialist] Jo Kwon, the younger brother of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who was indicted on charges including recruitment corruption related to Woongdong Academy and sentenced to one year in prison in the first trial, was sentenced to three years in prison and fined 147 million won in the appellate trial.

On the 26th, the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Park Yeon-wook, Kim Kyu-dong, Lee Hee-jun) recognized the charges including violation of the Labor Standards Act, which the prosecution added in the appellate trial, as guilty and handed down this sentence.

The appellate court overturned the first trial's verdict and found Jo guilty of breach of trust related to false lawsuits involving Woongdong Academy and aiding a criminal.

It also recognized guilt for the charge of violation of the Labor Standards Act, which is in a conceptual concurrence relationship (where a single act corresponds to multiple crimes simultaneously) with the charge of bribery for breach of trust, for which Jo was acquitted in the first trial.

Article 9 of the Labor Standards Act (Prohibition of Intermediate Exploitation) states, "No one shall intervene in another person's employment for profit or obtain benefits as an intermediary without legal grounds." Violation of this article is punishable under Article 107 of the same law by imprisonment of up to five years or a fine of up to 50 million won.

Previously, Judge Kim Mi-ri, who presided over the first trial, recognized only one charge of obstruction of business related to providing exam questions and answer sheets to two applicants for Woongdong Middle School teachers as guilty out of six charges against Jo, and acquitted him of the remaining five charges including breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, bribery for breach of trust, evasion of compulsory execution, instruction to destroy evidence, and aiding a criminal.

In the appellate trial, with the prosecution's amendment of the indictment, the charge of violation of the Labor Standards Act was added, and the court reviewed all seven charges.

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