Younger Brother of Cho Kuk Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison... Supreme Court: "No Abuse of Prosecution Rights by Prosecution" (Comprehensive)

Former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's younger brother, Cho Kwon [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] Cho Kwon, the younger brother of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, has been sentenced to three years in prison by the Supreme Court. The charges of conducting a sham lawsuit against the Ungdong Academy operated by his family to cause damages to the school corporation, and receiving bribes during the teacher recruitment process, among other corrupt acts, were upheld as guilty.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Presiding Justice Kim Seonsu) confirmed the lower court's ruling on the afternoon of the 30th, sentencing Cho to three years in prison on charges including violation of the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes (breach of trust) and obstruction of business. The court stated, "There is no error in the legal reasoning of the lower court's judgment." The prosecution's claim of abuse of prosecution rights, which was raised by Cho's side as grounds for appeal, was also rejected.

Cho was prosecuted for causing damages worth over 10 billion KRW to the school corporation by securing false construction payment claims and conducting a so-called 'self lawsuit' against Ungdong Academy, as well as receiving bribes during the teacher recruitment process at Ungdong Middle School. The prosecution applied a total of seven charges against him. The first trial recognized only the obstruction of business related to recruitment corruption as guilty and sentenced him to one year in prison.

In the appeal trial, the prosecution changed the charge of breach of trust under the Act on the Aggravated Punishment of Specific Economic Crimes, for which the first trial acquitted him, to attempted breach of trust in the course of business, and this was recognized as guilty. Similarly, the charge of harboring a criminal, which was acquitted in the first trial, was also found guilty in the second trial. Out of the seven charges, four were recognized as guilty. Cho filed an appeal against the ruling, and the prosecution appealed the acquittals in the appeal trial on charges including evasion of compulsory execution and bribery. After receiving the case in September, the Supreme Court deliberated for about four months before reaching the final conclusion on this day.

The case involving the family of former Minister Cho, which shook the political landscape in August 2019, has now mostly reached final rulings by the Supreme Court. Earlier, the Supreme Court ruled on Cho Beomdong, Cho's fifth cousin, and Kim Kyungrok, the asset manager for Cho and his wife. Cho Beomdong was sentenced to four years in prison, and Kim received eight months in prison with a two-year probation. Currently, the case of former Dongyang University professor Jung Kyungshim, Cho's wife, is under review by the Supreme Court, while the first trial for former Minister Cho Kuk is ongoing at the Seoul Central District Court.

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