Jomin: "If I had ridden a Porsche even once, I wouldn't feel wronged"... Demands punishment for Gaseyeon cast members

Gang Yong-seok, Kim Se-ui, Kim Yong-ho, and Other Gaseyeon Cast Members
"Jo Min Drives a Red Porsche" YouTube Broadcast
Defamation Charges Under the Information and Communications Network Act

"(All my classmates at Pusan National University School of Medicine knew that I drove an Avante, and I used to give rides to all my friends. It is utterly ridiculous and baffling where the story about the Porsche came from."

Cho Min, daughter of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, appeared as a witness in the criminal trial of the 'Garosero Research Institute' (Gaseyeon) cast members, who were prosecuted for defamation on YouTube, and expressed her grievances.

Cho Min, daughter of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk [Image source=Yonhap News]

At 2 p.m. on the 28th, Judge Lee Jong-min of the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 3 presided over a continuation hearing of the Gaseyeon cast members, including lawyer Kang Yong-seok, former MBC reporter Kim Se-ui, and former Sports World reporter Kim Yong-ho, who were indicted for defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.

In the previous hearing, the court accepted the prosecution's request to summon Cho as a witness, leading to her appearance at this hearing.

A partition was installed between the witness stand where Cho sat and the defendant's seats including lawyer Kang. This was at Cho's request for safety, so that lawyer Kang and others could not see her.

The prosecutor asked Cho, after she took the witness oath, "Why did you file a defamation lawsuit against lawyer Kang and others?" Cho said, "I had never driven a foreign or sports car at that time," and lamented, "It was very difficult to see content spreading online that gave the impression that 'my father (former Minister Cho) drives a domestic car while his daughter, who is not good at studying, drives a foreign car."

Cho explained that she drove a 2013 blue Avante sedan at the time. The prosecutor also presented the vehicle registration certificate of the Avante she drove as evidence. When asked if she wanted the defendants to be punished, Cho replied, "Yes, I do."

On the other hand, the defense raised the possibility that Cho actually drove a Porsche. They argued that about 1 billion KRW was invested in the company of Cho Beom-dong, a fifth cousin of former Minister Cho, under the names of former Dongyang University professor Jeong Gyeong-sim and Cho's siblings, and that the Porsche vehicle, which was cited as an object of embezzlement in Cho Beom-dong's separate criminal case, might have been driven by Cho.

However, in response to related questions, Cho said, "(Cho Beom-dong is) a distant relative whom I know," and "I do not know him at all. I don't even know what kind of car he drove." She emphasized, "If I had ever driven a Porsche even once, I wouldn't feel so wronged."

When the defense asked, "Even if the statement about driving a Porsche could be defamation against your father, former Minister Cho, wouldn't it not apply to you as a witness?" she said, "I think I am more of a victim than my father in that regard. (Through the YouTube broadcast) they created an image of me as someone who doesn't study and drives a foreign car."

When the defense asked, "Many of your friends also drove foreign cars, so how is that (the content of the YouTube broadcast) defamation?" she explained, "The big difference is that it is false information," and "It was covered on YouTube and spread, and I was stigmatized by everyone as that kind of person or image."

When asked, "Why do you think such reports came to Gaseyeon?" she said, "I am also curious," and stated, "All my classmates knew I drove an Avante, and I gave rides to all my friends. It is utterly ridiculous and baffling where the story about the Porsche came from."

The witness examination of Cho was concluded on the same day.

All defendants, including lawyer Kang, denied the charges that day. The former reporter Kim's side argued, "The defendant never definitively stated that Cho Min drove a red Porsche. They did not recognize the falsity, and even if they agreed, it was based on a public interest purpose."

The judge said, "Although the falsity of the statements in this case is disputed, it is important whether the defendants had the awareness that it was false, whether there was an intent to defame, and whether it aligns with the public interest." The next hearing will be held at 2 p.m. on the 25th of next month.

Attorney Kang Yong-seok is attending a trial held on the 28th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu. [Image source=Yonhap News]

Earlier, the Gaseyeon cast members posted photos of a Porsche parked at Pusan National University School of Medicine on YouTube in August 2019, claiming that Cho drove a red sports car. The prosecution indicted lawyer Kang and others last September for defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act.

Meanwhile, they lost the first trial of a civil lawsuit filed by the family of former Minister Cho. Last year, the court ordered Gaseyeon and its cast members to pay 10 million KRW to former Minister Cho, 30 million KRW to Cho Min, and 10 million KRW to her brother Cho Won, and to delete the YouTube videos containing false information. The appeal trial is currently underway.

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