Ruling Party Presidential Candidates Fiercely Criticize "Yoon Seok-yeol for Forcing False Testimony to Target Cho Kuk's Family"

Lee Nak-yeon "The reality of Yoon being mentioned as the opposition presidential candidate is bizarre"
Kim Du-kwan "Yoon defined as an 'anti-human family destroyer' who threatened even the family of his daughter's friend to catch Cho Kuk's family"

Photo by Lee, former representative, Facebook capture

[Asia Economy Reporter Na Yeeun] Lee Nak-yeon, former leader of the Democratic Party and presidential candidate, and Congressman Kim Doo-kwan criticized former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl, who led the investigation at the time, as "coercing perjury" and a "cruel family destroyer" after Jang, a high school classmate of Cho Min, daughter of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, reversed her statement.

On the 27th, Lee posted on his social media (SNS), "Jang, who testified during the heated court battle over whether Cho’s children attended the Seoul National University human rights law seminar. When she was under investigation by the prosecution, her parents were also subject to travel bans, and she was summoned and questioned 11 times," adding, "It is not hard to imagine the pressure Jang must have felt."

He said, "The Yoon Seok-youl prosecution forcibly pushed through an unreasonable indictment against Cho’s family by taking another family hostage and coercing a young person to give false testimony," and questioned, "What exactly did the Yoon Seok-youl prosecution want by making a young person betray their friend?"

He continued, "It is bizarre that Yoon Seok-youl, who did that, is now mentioned as a presidential candidate for the opposition," and requested, "How can he speak of justice with a mouth that coerced perjury, and how can he expect the people’s choice? The Ministry of Justice should conduct an inspection of the investigation at the time, and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials (CIO) should thoroughly investigate this issue to prevent the prosecution’s power from ever becoming a weapon of falsehood again."

Photo by Kim, captured from the lawmaker's Facebook

Congressman Kim also stated on his Facebook, "As of today, I define former Prosecutor General Yoon as a shameless criminal who violated political neutrality obligations and destroyed former Minister Cho Kuk’s family to become president, and as a cruel family destroyer who even threatened the family of the daughter’s friend to capture the Cho family."

He claimed, "The Yoon Seok-youl prosecution imposed travel bans on Jang’s family and questioned them 11 times to catch Cho. This is nothing less than another family hostage drama," and urged, "The Ministry of Justice must immediately start an inspection into what threats and perjury coaching were used to obtain Jang’s false testimony, and the CIO must promptly begin an investigation."

Democratic Party floor leader Yoon Ho-jung also said, "The prosecution should immediately start an inspection, and the Corruption Investigation Office for High-ranking Officials should begin investigating the related parties," and directly criticized former Prosecutor General Yoon, saying, "The family hostage drama scripted by the prosecution was prematurely ended by a confession of conscience. Not only assault but also abuse of authority and threats should be added as crimes under criminal law."

Photo by Jeong Kyung-shim Defense Team, a video capture provided to reporters showing the person inside the red circle appearing in the Seoul National University seminar video as daughter Cho Min.

Meanwhile, on the 25th, Jang, a high school classmate of Cho Min, reversed her position on Facebook regarding the "May 2009 Seoul National University academic conference," stating, "The female student in the video is indeed Cho Min."

On the same day (25th), Jang posted on her Facebook, "I sincerely apologize to Cho Min and her family. I am very sorry and ask for forgiveness. I was wrong," adding, "My baseless speculation driven by revenge obscured the truth. The female student wearing glasses in the seminar video is indeed Cho Min." Previously, Jang had testified in the first trial of Professor Jung Kyung-shim that "Cho did not attend the seminar."