Yoon Seok-yeol's Mother-in-Law Appeal Trial Begins... Court Requests "Clarification of Facts"

[Asia Economy Reporter Bae Kyunghwan] The appellate court in the case of Choi Mo, the mother-in-law of former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-yeol, who was sentenced to three years in prison in the first trial for operating an illegal nursing hospital and fraudulently receiving tens of billions of won in nursing care benefits, criticized the first trial’s key judgments. Choi’s side criticized the prosecution and appealed for bail citing health reasons.

On the 26th, the Seoul High Court Criminal Division 5 (Presiding Judges Yoon Kang-yeol, Park Jae-young, Kim Sang-cheol) held the first preparatory hearing for Choi’s appeal trial at 5 p.m. Choi was indicted for violating the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (fraud). Although the defendant is not required to attend the preparatory hearing, Choi appeared for the bail hearing.

On this day, the court stated, “The core issue is whether Choi conspired and participated in operating the hospital as a disguised owner, running it like a personal clinic,” and asked both the prosecution and defense to clarify the facts. In particular, the court pointed out, “It must be clearly proven whether the defendant was involved in the operation despite knowing that the medical foundation was a mere shell.”

Choi’s side emphasized that she did not lead, control, or profit from the hospital’s operation. The defense added, “The defendant agreed to lend 200 million won and was inadvertently involved in the hospital contract.”

The court also conducted a hearing on whether to grant bail to Choi. She said, “Sometimes my blood pressure suddenly drops, causing significant threat and pain,” and added, “I would be very grateful if the judge could show consideration.”

Meanwhile, Choi was prosecuted for opening and operating a profit-oriented medical institution with partners in November 2012 despite lacking the qualifications to establish a medical institution, and for involvement in opening and operating a nursing hospital in Paju, Gyeonggi Province, in February the following year. According to the National Health Insurance Act and Medical Service Act, only medical institutions legally established can claim nursing care benefit costs. However, Choi is accused of illegally embezzling a total of 2,294.2 million won in nursing care benefit costs from May 2013 to May 2015 through the nursing hospital.

The court plans to hold a second preparatory hearing on the 6th of next month to confirm the specific reasons for the appeal and opinions on the issues from Choi’s defense counsel.

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