Court Rejects Reconsideration Request Against Non-Prosecution of Alleged Perjury by Yoon Seok-yeol's Mother-in-Law

Choi, the mother-in-law of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol (right). Photo by Kang Jin-hyeong aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The court has ruled that the prosecution's decision not to indict Choi, the mother-in-law of President-elect Yoon Seok-yeol, on charges of 'subornation of perjury' was justified.

According to the legal community on the 28th, the Criminal Division 30 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judges Bae Gwang-guk, Jo Jin-gu, Park Eun-young) dismissed the petition for reconsideration filed by businessman Jeong Daetaek and others against Choi on the 25th. A petition for reconsideration is a system that allows the court to review a prosecutor's decision not to indict.

The court stated, "We can accept the prosecutor's decision not to indict, and there is a lack of evidence to recognize the decision as unjust."

Previously, in 2003, Choi and Jeong were involved in a lawsuit over 5.3 billion KRW in profit from bond investments at a sports center in Songpa-gu, Seoul. Jeong claimed that based on an agreement with Choi, the profits should be split equally. However, Choi refused to pay the profits, arguing that the agreement was made under coercion.

During this process, Baek, a judicial scrivener who was present, initially testified that Choi was correct, but later changed his statement, saying, "I perjured myself after receiving compensation from Choi."

Subsequently, Jeong was sued by Choi on charges of coercion and attempted fraud and was sentenced to two years in prison in 2006. Choi was accused of falsely testifying that she did not attempt to reach a settlement during Jeong's criminal trial. However, the prosecution reportedly did not acknowledge that Choi attempted a settlement, doubting the credibility of Kim, the intermediary.

The prosecution also decided not to indict Choi on charges of false testimony for stating in court that she "did not know" and "would not answer" regarding the relationship between President-elect Yoon's wife Kim Geon-hee and Prosecutor Yang. This was based on the judgment that the testimony of Prosecutor Yang's mother submitted by Jeong lacked credibility and that it was difficult to punish for perjury when the witness refused to answer during questioning.

The Supreme Prosecutors' Office accepted part of the appeal, citing omissions of certain judgments during the investigation, and in July of last year, ordered the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office to reopen the investigation.

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