"Jomin Attended Seminar" Jo Guk's Daughter's High School Classmate Reverses Statement
[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Midam] On the 27th, Kim Nam-guk, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, commented on the reversal of testimony by Jang, a high school classmate of Cho Min, the daughter of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, saying, "Although late, I am only grateful for the courage to correct it now."
On the same day, Kim posted on his Facebook under the title "This is not a simple reversal of testimony but a declaration of conscience," stating, "The truth is gradually being revealed, albeit late."
He said, "Yesterday, there was a declaration of conscience from a witness who appeared at the trial of former Minister Cho and Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim. It was the conclusion to the uproar over whether the witness attended the Northeast Asia International Academic Conference on the Death Penalty seminar hosted by the Seoul National University Public Interest Human Rights Law Center."
He continued, "The witness, while asking not to disparage the prosecutors, explained that the incident occurred because forces opposing the ruling party tried to block the succession of power. Even the witness, who was a high school student at the time, understood the essence and problems of the investigation," he pointed out.
Kim also said, "At that time, the ruling party and former Minister Cho strongly pushed for prosecutorial reform. The person who opposed this reform and was the top official responsible for the prosecution investigation was none other than former Prosecutor General Yoon Seok-youl."
He added, "Looking at the series of events, it is reasonable to see that former Prosecutor General Yoon abused the prosecution's investigative authority as a political tool during his tenure. Yoon, who declared his presidential candidacy without completing his term, and who oversaw the dark intentions behind the prosecution investigation that even the high school witness noticed, must now admit his mistakes and apologize," he raised his voice.
Furthermore, Kim said, "Separately from former Prosecutor General Yoon, the prosecution organization must acknowledge the unfairness and excessiveness of the investigation at that time and make efforts to correct it. Measures should be taken to prevent the recurrence of issues such as abuse of investigative authority and indiscriminate disclosure of suspect information pointed out during the investigation process," adding, "I hope the pieces of truth gradually emerging to the surface will be pieced together during the trial process and that the truth will be revealed through the trial."
Earlier, Jang, a classmate from the Korean-English Foreign Language High School study abroad class of Cho Min, reversed her previous claim on the 25th through her Facebook, stating, "Cho definitely attended the death penalty seminar." Previously, Jang had testified as a witness at the first trial of Professor Jeong Gyeong-sim last year, stating, "Cho did not attend the seminar at that time."
She said, "The girl in the seminar video is indeed Cho. My baseless speculation driven by revenge obscured the truth. I sincerely apologize to Cho and her family," she said.
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