Cho Kuk handed two-year prison sentence, loses Assembly seat

Home > National > Politics

Cho Kuk handed two-year prison sentence, loses Assembly seat

Published: 12 Dec. 2024, 12:26 Updated: 12 Dec. 2024, 17:49

MICHAEL LEE
[email protected]

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Cho Kuk, chief of the minor liberal Rebuilding Korea Party, arrives at a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday afternoon, hours after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction for fraud and interfering in a state audit. [NEWS1]

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld a two-year prison sentence against minor party chief Cho Kuk on charges of fabricating official documents and interfering in a state audit of a Busan city official.

Cho, a vocal critic of President Yoon Suk Yeol and head of the liberal Rebuilding Korea Party, automatically lost his seat in the National Assembly after the court confirmed the two-year prison term originally handed to him by lower courts. He was also fined 6 million won ($4,184).

In its verdict, the Supreme Court declared Cho guilty of fabricating documents to boost his children’s admissions prospects and using his position as a senior Blue House official in 2017 to close an inspection into a corruption case involving then-Busan Vice Mayor Yoo Jae-soo.

Under the Public Official Election Act, a lawmaker who receives a fine exceeding 1 million won or a prison sentence of any length forfeits their parliamentary seat.

Although Cho asked the court earlier this week to postpone sentencing so he could participate in the parliamentary impeachment vote against Yoon on Saturday, his request was denied.

Cho's conviction bars him from running in elections for five years, thus forcing him out of politics just as he had made a comeback by establishing the Rebuilding Korea Party and winning 12 seats in the National Assembly, including his own, in the April general election.

As all of the Rebuilding Korea Party’s seats were won through proportional representation, the party will be able to choose Cho’s replacement in the National Assembly.

However, the party’s future hangs in the balance following the imprisonment of its founder, whose name appears in the party’s full title in Korean.

Rebuilding Korea Party chief Cho Kuk, center, speaks at a press conference at the National Assembly in Yeouido, western Seoul, on Thursday, hours after the Supreme Court upheld his conviction. [YONHAP]

In his first public statement after the Supreme Court ruled against him, Cho said he “humbly accepts the verdict” and promised his party “will continue its march forward” even without him.

Cho’s hostility towards Yoon is believed by many observers to have been driven by a vendetta against the president for engineering his downfall five years ago.

A former law professor at Seoul National University, Cho became a rising political star after being appointed senior presidential secretary for civil affairs under former President Moon Jae-in in 2017.

Although he was tapped by Moon to head the Justice Ministry in 2019, he was forced to resign after only a month in the post amid massive protests over allegations that he and his wife, Chung Kyung-sim, falsified their daughter Cho Min’s academic credentials to give her a leg up in university admissions.

The investigation into Cho and his wife was spearheaded by Yoon, who was then the country’s prosecutor general and clashed with Cho over how much investigative authority the state prosecution service should retain.

The probe into Cho soured relations between Yoon and President Moon, and Yoon’s bitter struggle with the next justice minister, Choo Mi-ae, spurred him to run for the presidency.

The Supreme Court sentenced Chung to four years’ imprisonment in 2022 after finding her guilty of financial misconduct and fabricating her daughter’s credentials.

As a result, both of Cho Min’s degrees from Korea University and Pusan National University’s medical school were revoked, and she lost her medical license last year.

Cho also lost his teaching position at Seoul National University last year after the Seoul Central District Court issued its initial ruling in his case.

Update, Dec. 12: Details of Cho's background, trial history and party information added.

BY MICHAEL LEE [[email protected]]