Supreme Court Review of Choi Kang-wook's 'Loss of Assembly Member Position' Sentence Delayed Due to 'No One Home'

Choi Kang-wook, Member of the Democratic Party of Korea / Photo by Jin-hyeong Kang aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Choi Kang-wook, a member of the Democratic Party of Korea who was sentenced to lose his parliamentary seat in the first and second trials for issuing a false internship certificate for the son of former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, has delayed the Supreme Court review as he did not receive the criminal case notification due to 'no one answering the door.'

According to the court on the 10th, the Supreme Court sent the 'Lawsuit Record Receipt Notice' to Choi three times between June and July, but all were undelivered due to no one answering the door.

'No one answering the door' means that when the postal worker visited the address, the door was locked and no one was present. The Supreme Court requires the defendant to submit a statement of reasons for appeal within 20 days from the date of notification of receipt of the lawsuit record and appoints a presiding justice.

Previously, Choi was prosecuted for issuing false internship activity certificates twice in 2017 and 2018 while working as a lawyer at the law firm Cheongmaek. Cho submitted these certificates to graduate school admissions at Korea University and Yonsei University and was admitted to both. At the time of indictment, Choi was the Secretary for Public Office Discipline at the Blue House and ran as a proportional representation candidate in the April 15, 2020 general election, winning a seat.

The first and second trials judged the internship certificates to be false and sentenced Choi to eight months in prison with a two-year suspended sentence. The first trial court stated, "The activity details of former Minister Cho's son do not match the contents of the certificate and cannot be seen as merely exaggerated," adding, "The certificate does not correspond to the actual activities performed, likely causing misunderstanding or confusion for the admissions officer."

According to the Public Official Election Act and the National Assembly Act, a member of the National Assembly loses their eligibility and parliamentary seat if sentenced to imprisonment or higher (including suspended sentences).