[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Cho] Court testimonies contradicting former Dongyang University President Choi Seonghae's claims have been continuously presented regarding the 'certificate forgery suspicion' involving Professor Jeong Gyeongshim of Dongyang University. Former President Choi testified as a witness in March in this case, stating that 'Cho Min, daughter of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, did not participate in volunteer work at Dongyang University' and 'he never met Prosecutor General Yoon Seokyeol during the investigation.' However, testimonies opposing these statements have since emerged. The court, however, expressed a reserved stance, stating, "It seems necessary to assess the credibility of the testimonies."
Regarding the private equity fund suspicion, testimony was given that former Minister Cho was not well aware of the facts during the hearing preparation. This is favorable testimony for Professor Jeong's side ahead of the witness examination of former Minister Cho.
Jung Kyung-shim, wife of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who was indicted on charges including admission bribery for their children and suspicions of private equity fund fraud, is attending a trial held on the 27th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@
"Saw Cho Min at Dongyang University"… Court Warns of Perjury
At the continuation trial of Professor Jeong held on the 27th under the Criminal Division 25-2 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Lim Jeongyeop), Choi's nephew, Mr. Lee, appeared as a witness for the defense. He is a person who previously ran a cafe and restaurant at Dongyang University and had conflicts with former President Choi. In September last year, he appeared on 'Kim Eo-jun's News Factory' with an acquaintance and partially disclosed a recording involving former President Choi and local opposition politicians.
Mr. Lee gave testimony favorable to Professor Jeong regarding the certificate forgery suspicion. During defense questioning, he stated, "In the summer of 2012, Cho Min was helping her mother, Professor Jeong, at Dongyang University." Regarding Cho Min's specific activities at the time, he testified, "I heard her leading children doing volunteer work and discussing class content with native English teachers." This was testimony indicating that Cho Min participated in English volunteer work at Dongyang University.
Mr. Lee's testimony contradicts both the prosecution's claims and former President Choi's statements. The prosecution holds that Cho Min never participated as a tutor in the Dongyang University Humanities Gifted Program and judged the certificate based on this to be forged, applying charges of forgery of private documents against Professor Jeong. Former President Choi also testified earlier in the continuation trial that "Cho Min did not do volunteer work at Dongyang University."
However, Mr. Lee's credibility was shaken during subsequent prosecution questioning. The prosecution pointed out that the period when the Humanities Gifted Program was held and the time Mr. Lee claimed to have seen Cho Min did not match. The program was established in January 2012 and ended in August of the same year, so seeing Cho Min in the summer was deemed impossible. They also argued that the program Cho Min supposedly tutored in did not involve classes with native English teachers.
Despite this, Mr. Lee insisted his memory was correct. When asked by the prosecution, "Are you sure that Cho Min came to Dongyang University and discussed class content with native English teachers even though the Humanities Gifted Program was not open from July 2012?" and "Did you see her leading middle and high school students from Yeongju participating in the program?" Mr. Lee answered, "Yes, that's correct."
As Mr. Lee continued to give testimony with weak grounds, the court finally warned, "We warn the witness about perjury," and advised, "If you say things that differ from objective facts or your memory, you may be punished for perjury, so please think carefully before answering." After receiving this warning once, Mr. Lee gave an unclear answer about when he saw former Minister Cho's son, Mr. Cho, and was reprimanded again by the presiding judge, "How important is the year? Don't say you don't know. Listen carefully and answer."
"Choi Seonghae said 'I fight against Yoon Seokyeol, the President, and Cho Kuk'"
Mr. Lee also gave many testimonies unfavorable to former President Choi. Former President Choi had testified that he never met Prosecutor General Yoon Seokyeol during the investigation, but Mr. Lee testified, "I heard from former President Choi that he had meals with Yoon Seokyeol and said, 'Cho Kuk must never become minister. I am fighting against Yoon Seokyeol and the supreme leader (Moon Jae-in). If you make a mistake, I will imprison you too.'"
When the defense asked why former President Choi alone was investigated at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, unlike other Dongyang University officials who were investigated at the school or office where searches were conducted, Mr. Lee replied, "I heard they ate and conspired together." This suggests that former President Choi colluded with Prosecutor General Yoon to intentionally attack former Minister Cho.
Mr. Lee also said, "I received a call from former President Choi two or three days before appearing in court." During the call, former President Choi allegedly sowed discord between Mr. Lee and Professor Jeong. The content Mr. Lee relayed included, "Professor Jeong Gyeongshim said bad things about you. I delivered your brother's wedding invitation to Professor Jeong, and she said, 'Who sends such a stupid invitation?'"
When asked by the defense if former President Choi ever threatened to kill him by hiring local gangsters, Mr. Lee said, "He caused trouble not only to me but also at the store my brother runs." He also testified that former President Choi called Dongyang University staff who appeared as witnesses in Professor Jeong's trial to confirm their testimonies and got angry if they did not give unfavorable testimony against Professor Jeong.
Mr. Lee also said, "Former President Choi planned to run for the general election as a successor to former Future United Party lawmaker Choi Gyo-il." These were all unfavorable testimonies against former President Choi during the defense questioning. Mr. Lee said, "I became estranged from former President Choi after the Dongyang University restaurant contract was canceled in 2017."
The prosecution rebutted that some of the defense's questions included content unrelated to the charges in this case. The prosecution said, "It is strange that the question includes content about Mr. Lee being threatened by former President Choi." Regarding Mr. Lee's testimony that former President Choi ate with Prosecutor General Yoon during the investigation, the prosecution emphasized, "Former President Choi testified that this never happened."
Kim Mikyung: "Cho Kuk seemed unaware of the family fund suspicion"
In the afternoon session, Kim Mikyung, Secretary for Balanced Personnel Affairs at the Blue House who helped prepare former Minister Cho's hearing last year, appeared as a witness. This was to examine the illegal private equity fund investment suspicion against Professor Jeong. Secretary Kim was originally summoned as a witness on June 18 but submitted a non-attendance letter at that time and appeared in court on this day.
Secretary Kim worked as a senior administrative officer in the Legal Affairs Secretary Office when former Minister Cho served as Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs at the Blue House in 2017. After Cho was nominated as Minister of Justice, she joined the hearing preparation team and took charge of overseeing responses to personal issues. Secretary Kim was appointed Secretary for Balanced Personnel Affairs at the Blue House in January.
The prosecution aggressively questioned to highlight that former Minister Cho was aware of the family private equity fund suspicion during the hearing. However, Secretary Kim gave testimony contrary to the prosecution's intention. She said, "Whenever new suspicions about the private equity fund arose, not only I but also former Minister Cho was embarrassed," and "He seemed to be completely unaware of the private equity fund suspicion."
The private equity fund suspicion intensified as it was revealed that Cho Beomdong, former Minister Cho's fifth cousin, was involved in the fund management company, and that the investors in the fund were composed solely of family members, including the brother-in-law Jeong. Secretary Kim revealed that on August 21 last year, former Minister Cho was shocked when first informed that his brother-in-law was an investor and asked, "Is that true?"
The prosecution asked, "Isn't it true that former Minister Cho reacted that way because he was surprised that the brother-in-law's investment was exposed despite knowing about it?" Secretary Kim emphasized, "I did not feel that way at all." She explained, "There was a proposal within the hearing preparation team to thoroughly investigate the facts related to the private equity fund."
The prosecution suspects that former Minister Cho ignored this proposal and instead had a false explanation released to the media on the same day, stating that "it is difficult to confirm the facts." This is included in the indictment against former Minister Cho. However, Secretary Kim said, "There was no instruction from former Minister Cho regarding the preparation team's explanation," and "It is hard to think that former Minister Cho agreed with or knew about the wording and expressions in the media explanation."
The prosecution also pointed out former Minister Cho's statement at a self-requested press conference on September 2 last year, where he said, "Neither I nor my family knew that the fund was family-centered." Regarding this, Secretary Kim explained, "As far as I know, it means that he knows now but did not know in the past."
At the end of the questioning, when the court gave her an opportunity to express her thoughts, Secretary Kim said, "There were parts I did not know about the private equity fund suspicion, but I never thought I had to answer falsely," and "It was a process of supplementing answers as various suspicions were raised." She became emotional, saying, "I wanted to explain my attitude and feelings about this."
The court plans to summon former Minister Cho for witness examination at the next hearing on September 3.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
