Law Firm Kwangjang, Attorney Resignation Procedure
Resignation Process to Be Completed by Next Trial
The law firm Kwangjang, which has been defending Jeong Myeong-seok of the Christian Gospel Mission (JMS) against allegations of sexual assault on female followers, is in the process of withdrawing as counsel.
According to the legal community on the 17th, Kwangjang, which was representing Jeong Myeong-seok, submitted a letter of withdrawal of counsel designation to the 12th Criminal Division of the Daejeon District Court, reported Maeil Business Newspaper. The charges handled by the law firm include Jeong Myeong-seok’s alleged rape by a gas station owner, quasi-forced molestation, and forced molestation.
On the 13th, the firm submitted an application to the court to withdraw the designation of four of the six existing defense attorneys, and plans to complete the withdrawal process for the remaining two attorneys before Jeong Myeong-seok’s trial scheduled for the 21st. It is also reported that they will not attend the trial on the 21st.
Kwangjang took on the Jeong Myeong-seok case last year. Among the defense attorneys is Yoo Jae-man (age 60, Judicial Research and Training Institute class 16), who investigated major cases such as embezzlement by large corporation owners and illegal presidential election funds during his time as a prosecutor. Yoo is currently also defending former Ssangbangwool Group chairman Kim Seong-tae in the trial regarding the 'Gyeonggi-do North Korea remittance payment' charges.
The specific reasons for the withdrawal have not been disclosed. However, public outrage against Jeong Myeong-seok has grown following the release of the Netflix documentary "I Am God: People Betrayed by God," and this discontent has also spread to his defense team.
The Daejeon District Prosecutors’ Office’s Women and Children Crime Investigation Division referred Jeong Myeong-seok to trial in October last year. Jeong is accused of sexually assaulting or molesting two women a total of 22 times from February 2018 to September 2021 at the Wolmyeong-dong training center in Geumsan-gun, Chungnam Province.
Jeong was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2009 for rape and injury charges involving four followers, served his sentence, and was released in February 2018.
Other victims have come forward with allegations of sexual violence outside of the ongoing trial, and investigations are underway.
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