"'Admission Scandal' Jo Guk Couple: 'Seizure of Dongyang University PC Without Spokesperson, Like Forensically Examined Shared Phone, Is Illegal'"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The couple of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who is on trial over allegations of 'children's admission corruption,' once again claimed that the prosecution illegally seized the PC in the instructor lounge at Dongyang University.

This time, they cited a recent case involving the Public Relations Officer's shared phone at the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, which was voluntarily submitted to the Supreme Prosecutors' Office Inspection Department and handed over during a search by the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials.

On the 12th, Cho's defense attorney emphasized that the instructor lounge PC was "illegally obtained evidence" during the trial of the 'children's admission corruption' case held at the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21-1 (Presiding Judges Ma Seong-young, Kim Sang-yeon, Jang Yong-beom).

In 2019, while investigating the admission corruption case involving Cho's family, the prosecution took the instructor lounge PC arbitrarily through Kim, an assistant at Dongyang University. The couple claims that the prosecution did not follow proper procedures at that time. They argue that the inspection and copying of the storage media records were conducted without guaranteeing the participation rights of Jeong Gyeong-sim, a professor at Dongyang University and the actual owner of the electronic information on the PC.

The defense attorney referred to the recent controversy over the seizure of the Supreme Prosecutors' Office spokesperson's shared mobile phone. They argued that, considering the case of the spokesperson's shared phone, which was voluntarily submitted and subjected to forensic work without the presence of current and former spokespersons, there are also issues with the seizure process of the instructor lounge PC.

The defense stated, "It is a basic forensic principle to prohibit inspection and copying of storage media without the presence of the concerned party," adding, "There is no reason why this forensic principle would not apply to this case."

They continued, "If, for inspection purposes, voluntary submission requires the participation obligation of former spokespersons as well as the current one, then similarly, it is hard to say that collecting evidence from the PC storage media submitted by a mere assistant without guaranteeing the defendants' participation rights is lawful."

The couple was brought to trial on charges including falsely issuing certificates of their children's internship activities and using them for graduate school admissions. The prosecution presented files extracted from the Dongyang University PC as key evidence of the admission corruption charges in court.

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