Police Investigate Complainant in Superintendent Cho Hee-yeon's Case Over Denial of Jo Min's Student Record Submission

Beopseoryeon "There is the Jung Yura case... Hypocrisy"

On the afternoon of the 21st, Lee Jong-bae, the representative of the Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law, who filed a complaint against Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Education of Seoul, on charges including obstruction of business by force, explained the purpose of the complaint before undergoing a complainant investigation at the Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit in Mapo-gu, Seoul.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Gwan-ju] The police have launched a full-scale investigation into the case in which civic groups accused Cho Hee-yeon, Superintendent of Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, of blocking the submission of student records of Cho Min, daughter of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk.

The Anti-Corruption and Public Crime Investigation Unit of the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency summoned Lee Jong-bae, the representative of the Action Alliance for Establishing the Rule of Law (Beopse-ryeon), who filed the complaint against Superintendent Cho on charges of abuse of authority and obstruction of business, on the afternoon of the 21st for investigation as a complainant.

Beopse-ryeon, the National Parents' Association Federation, the Next Generation Love Parents' Association, and 24 other organizations, totaling 27 groups, filed a complaint against Superintendent Cho at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office on the 6th of last month. The prosecution transferred the case to the police.

Before the complainant investigation, Lee held a press conference and stated, "Superintendent Cho's blocking of the submission of student records from Han Young Foreign Language High School, Cho Min's alma mater, was an act of abusing authority to obstruct Korea University's admission cancellation process," explaining the reason for the complaint.

In August last year, Korea University requested a copy of the student records from Han Young Foreign Language High School during the process of canceling Cho Min's admission. However, it is known that the former Minister Cho Kuk's side conveyed to Han Young Foreign Language High School that they could not agree to submit the student records. Consequently, Han Young Foreign Language High School inquired whether it was permissible to submit a copy of Cho Min's student records to Korea University, and the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education responded with the opinion that, according to the law stating 'student-related materials must not be provided to third parties without the consent of the student and their parents or guardians,' the student records could be corrected and then submitted to Korea University after a final Supreme Court ruling.

Regarding this, Lee said, "During the 2016 admission corruption case involving Choi Seo-won (formerly Choi Soon-sil)'s daughter Jung Yoo-ra, the Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education actively conducted an audit and canceled her admission to Cheongdam High School by correcting the student records without a final ruling," adding, "Superintendent Cho's stance of correcting the student records only after a final ruling is a cunning and poor excuse based on factional logic to protect Cho Min."

He continued, "Students and parents are shocked and angry at Superintendent Cho's duplicity shown in the two admission corruption cases of Jung Yoo-ra and Cho Min, and the principles that should be applied fairly and impartially to all students have been tragically broken only in front of Cho Min, leaving the entire nation in a devastated state," and said, "Since Superintendent Cho's charges are clear, we hope the investigative authorities conduct a thorough investigation and impose severe punishment."