Only Two Members Left in the Original Investigation Team
Recent Series of No-Charge Conclusions
[Asia Economy Reporter Seongpil Jo] The remaining cases surrounding the corruption allegations against former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk's family have recently been concluded with no charges after drifting through multiple reassignments. It is said that the momentum for the investigation has already run dry as not only the original investigation team’s leadership but also frontline prosecutors have dispersed across the country.
According to the legal community on the 6th, the remaining investigations into the corruption allegations against former Minister Cho’s family have been collectively assigned to the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office Trial Division 5 (Chief Prosecutor Kim Young-cheol) and are being wrapped up. Although Trial Division 5 is a non-investigative department responsible for maintaining prosecution during trials, it is known that two members from the original investigation team remained to continue the investigation. Recently, cases such as the false accusation of attempted coercion against former Roh Moo-hyun Foundation Chairman Yoo Si-min and Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Doo-kwan, the false accusation of threats and coercion against former Dongyang University Professor Jung Kyung-shim, and the false accusation of dereliction of duty against former Pusan National University President Jeon Ho-hwan were all dismissed without charges.
Initially, the investigation related to former Minister Cho’s family had been handled continuously by the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2, which specializes in special cases, since the corruption allegations surfaced in August 2019. However, since September 2020, all cases were reportedly reassigned collectively to the Special Trial Team 1. According to the Prosecutor’s Office regulations, cases can be assigned by the head of the prosecutor’s office or a delegated person (deputy chief prosecutor). At that time, the head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office was Lee Sung-yoon, currently the Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office chief, who is considered a pro-government prosecutor. The stated reason for reassigning the cases to Special Trial Team 1 was to maintain continuity of the investigation. Four prosecutors from the Anti-Corruption Investigation Division 2 who had been investigating the corruption allegations against former Minister Cho’s family were transferred to Special Trial Team 1, and the cases were sent along with them.
The cases were reassigned again to Trial Division 5 in July last year. This was due to the reorganization of the Prosecutor’s Office structure under the revised Prosecutor’s Office Organization Regulations (Presidential Decree), which merged Special Trial Team 1 and Special Trial Team 2 into Trial Division 5. However, due to personnel changes in the prosecution, the original investigation team remaining in Special Trial Team 1 was halved, and the momentum for the investigation reportedly weakened significantly. Analysts say that the recent consecutive dismissals of cases without charges are not unrelated to this.
The remaining case involves the investigation into allegations of obstruction of business related to former Minister Cho’s daughter, Cho Min’s, fraudulent admission. The Trial Division 5 handling the case has not yet decided whether to indict. An investigation is also ongoing into the automotive parts company 'Iksung,' suspected to be behind the private equity fund invested in by former Minister Cho’s family, but this case is widely viewed as corporate corruption rather than family corruption. The investigation is being conducted by the Anti-Corruption and Violent Crime Investigation Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office (Chief Prosecutor Jung Yong-hwan).
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