Justice Cheon Dae-yeop Appointed as Presiding Judge for Jeong Gyeong-sim's Supreme Court Appeal on 'Child Admission Fraud' Case

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] The panel and the presiding Supreme Court justice assigned to hear the appeal of Professor Jung Kyung-shim of Dongyang University, wife of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, who was sentenced to four years in prison in the first and second trials on charges including admission fraud involving their children, have been decided.

According to the legal community on the 21st, the Supreme Court assigned Professor Jung's appeal case to the Second Division (presiding Justice Cheon Dae-yeop).

The Supreme Court's Second Division consists of Justice Cheon (21st Judicial Research and Training Institute class), and Justices Cho Jae-yeon (12th class), Min Yoo-sook (18th class), and Lee Dong-won (17th class). Justice Cheon, a former judge, was nominated by Chief Justice Kim Myung-soo in April and appointed by President Moon Jae-in.

He presided over the case filed by former Future United Party (predecessor of the People Power Party) lawmaker Min Kyung-wook against the Incheon Yeonsu District Election Commission, which challenged the general election results, and after conducting a recount verification, concluded that there were no issues with the early voting ballots.

Before his appointment as a Supreme Court justice, he served as a standing member of the Sentencing Commission and established sentencing guidelines related to defamation and other crimes.

Meanwhile, Professor Jung was indicted on September 6, 2019, on charges of forging a certificate of commendation from Dongyang University for her daughter Cho Min. At that time, the couple, former Minister Cho and his wife, were suspected of agreeing to invest more money in a private equity fund than their publicly disclosed assets and of exerting improper influence or fabricating documents during their children's admission processes. In November of the same year, the prosecution added 14 more charges against Professor Jung, who was detained and indicted.

The first trial sentenced Professor Jung to four years in prison, a fine of 500 million won, and a confiscation of 140 million won. The second trial also found all charges related to admission fraud involving her children (such as obstruction of business) guilty and sentenced her to four years in prison, the same as the first trial. However, some charges related to insider trading of undisclosed information about the secondary battery company WFM (violation of the Capital Markets Act) were acquitted, resulting in a reduced fine of 50 million won and confiscation of about 10 million won.