Repentance is what you need now, Prof. Cho

Seoul National University on Tuesday decided to oust Professor Cho Kuk, the former justice minister, from the faculty of the law school. The decision came 42 months after he was indicted on charges of irregularities for his children’s college admissions. After postponing disciplinary measures against him until the first trial in February, SNU reached the decision after four months of debates. The far-reaching Cho Kuk crisis is finally headed to an end after splitting the nation into two in 2019 when he served as justice minister in the Moon Jae-in administration.

Cho was sentenced to two years in jail in the first trial after he was found guilty of most of the corruption charges involving his son and daughter’s admissions to college. An award his daughter received from a university president turned out to have been fabricated, and a PC in the lounge of the university was also effective as evidence to prove his guilt. The bench said he must take responsibility for “seriously damaging social trust in fairness.”

Cho was also found guilty of stopping a special inspection team at the Blue House from investigating a former vice mayor of Busan suspected of taking bribes while working at the Financial Services Commission. The court also ruled that the 6 million won ($4,706) in scholarship his daughter received from the Pusan National University Medical School violated the anti-graft act. All the sophistry the former justice minister and his followers used to advocate for him failed to prove his innocence.

But the Cho Kuk crisis is not over yet. As if sensing the upcoming demise of his academic career at SNU, he posted a resounding message on Facebook after meeting with his former boss at his post-retirement home last weekend. “I will take an uncharted path with no map or compass.”

Cho does not show any remorse yet. “I was nominated as justice minister to accomplish prosecution reforms, but the ordeal for me and my family still continues,” he wrote. “I am wondering what to do from now after all the achievements in the Moon administration are being denied.” What he must do now is apologize and seek forgiveness. He must repent all the regression of the values of fairness and justice and the retrogression of democracy. Only when he sincerely regrets the unheard-of double standards he showed, he can end the self-invited distress.

Despite his departure from academia, a legal battle will be protracted until the second and third trial. But nothing will change. The mosaic of all the facts squarely pointing to his criminality is already implanted in the minds of the people. Truth will prevail. We hope Cho finds a wise answer to save himself, his family and all the others before it’s too late.