[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] The prosecution has requested a six-year prison sentence in the appellate trial for Jo Kwon (the younger brother of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk), who was sentenced to imprisonment in the first trial on charges including corruption in teacher recruitment at Woongdong Academy and filing a sham lawsuit.
On the afternoon of the 24th, the prosecution requested the same six-year prison sentence as in the first trial during the appellate trial sentencing hearing of Jo, held under the Criminal Division 3 of the Seoul High Court (Presiding Judge Park Yeonwook). They also asked the court to order a fine of 147 million won.
Previously, Jo was arrested and indicted in November 2019 on charges of receiving 180 million won from two applicants while recruiting teachers at Woongdong Middle School from 2016 to the following year, when he was working as the secretary-general of Woongdong Academy, and passing on exam questions and answers. He has also been on trial for filing a sham lawsuit against Woongdong Academy by securing construction payment claims based on false construction work.
In September last year, the first trial recognized only one charge of obstruction of business as guilty and sentenced Jo to one year in prison, ordering a fine of 147 million won. The prosecution appealed the verdict. Jo was released on bail in March.
On this day, the prosecution criticized, "This is a shameless crime that forgets the essence of school education, involving leaking exam questions in advance and trading teaching positions using employment brokers and teacher recruitment as bait." They added, "The direct victims of this case are the dozens of rejected applicants who unknowingly became mere stand-ins for one preselected person."
The prosecution appealed, stating, "(Jo) destroyed evidence in preparation for a search and seizure even after the crime, and instructed accomplices to flee abroad and give false testimony to conceal the crime," arguing that the one-year prison sentence in the original trial was excessively light.
On the other hand, Jo's defense attorney said, "I want to ask whether this was really a crime serious enough to submit evidence from 30 years ago and conduct a search and seizure to that extent." The attorney claimed, "There are 55 witnesses in the case records. Was the defendant really such an important figure?" and argued, "This political accusation was made solely because Cho Kuk was his older brother." They also pointed out, "It is questionable whether the prosecution is judging and punishing all crimes with such investigative power."
Jo himself stated, "After having conflicts with my father, I was going through a hard time with failed business and being scammed," and "I made a big mistake when the teacher recruitment issue occurred. I have deeply reflected on this from the beginning until now." Referring to former Minister Cho, he added, "I feel very sorry for causing harm even to my older brother’s family because of me," and "I am deeply remorseful."
The sentencing hearing for Jo is scheduled to be held at 2 p.m. on August 26.
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
