Yoo Jae-su Submits 'Reason for Witness Non-Appearance' for Cho Kuk Trial

[Asia Economy Reporter Baek Kyunghwan] Yoo Jae-soo, former Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Busan City, has informed the court that he is unable to attend the trial as a witness in the case against former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who was indicted on charges of ordering the cover-up of an inspection involving Yoo.

According to the legal community on the 23rd, Yoo submitted a letter of absence to the Seoul Central District Court Criminal Division 21 (Presiding Judge Kim Miri) on the same day.

In the letter, Yoo reportedly explained that he is unable to appear in court due to health reasons. Yoo underwent stomach cancer surgery in June and is currently undergoing treatment.

The prosecution had planned to summon Yoo, suspected to be a beneficiary of the inspection cover-up, as a witness on the 25th to conduct focused questioning on whether he was aware of the cover-up and if there was any prior collusion. Cho Kuk was brought to trial on charges of halting the special inspection team’s investigation despite knowing about allegations of bribery and other misconduct by Yoo when he was the Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs in 2017.

Yoo was sentenced in the first trial in May to 1 year and 6 months in prison with a 3-year probation for bribery charges.