Choi Kang-wook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who was indicted on charges of falsifying an internship certificate at a law firm for the son of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, is expressing his position after being sentenced to a penalty resulting in loss of his parliamentary seat at the appellate court held on the 20th at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyung-min] Choi Kang-wook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who is accused of falsifying an internship certificate for the son of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk at a law firm, was sentenced to lose his parliamentary seat in the appellate court, following the first trial.
The Seoul Central District Court Criminal Appeal Division 5-1 (Presiding Judges Choi Byung-ryul, Won Jeong-sook, Jeong Deok-su) on the 20th upheld the first trial sentence of 8 months imprisonment with 2 years probation for Choi, who was indicted on charges of obstruction of business. If this ruling is finalized as is, Choi will have to relinquish his parliamentary seat. According to the National Assembly Act and the Public Official Election Act, a member of the National Assembly who is sentenced to imprisonment or higher (including suspended sentences) loses their eligibility to be elected and thus their seat.
Choi, who worked as a lawyer at the law firm Cheongmaek, was indicted without detention on charges of issuing a false internship certificate to Cho Won, the son of former Minister Cho, in October 2017, thereby obstructing graduate school admission procedures.
Choi claimed that Cho actually participated as an intern, but both the first and second trials did not accept this as fact.
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