Prosecutors Dismiss Charges Against Cho Kuk, Im Jong-seok, Hong Nam-gi, and Others in 'Moon Government Blacklist' Case

The prosecution has concluded that there is no criminal suspicion against Cho Kuk, leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, and Im Jong-seok, former Chief of Staff to the President, in relation to the 'Moon Jae-in Government Public Institution Blacklist Allegations.'

Cho Kuk, leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, and Im Jong-seok, former Chief of Staff to the President, who were under investigation for the 'Moon Jae-in Government Public Institution Blacklist' allegations, have been cleared of charges.

From the left, Im Jong-seok, former Chief of Staff to the President, and Cho Kuk, leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education Kim Sang-gon, and former Minister of Foreign Affairs Kang Kyung-wha, among others, were also cleared of charges.

Thus, the prosecution's investigation into the Moon Jae-in government blacklist allegations has been concluded with the indictment of heads of some ministries such as the Ministry of Environment and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. It has been over five years since the allegations were first raised by Kim Tae-woo, a former member of the Blue House special inspection team and former Gangseo District Office chief.

According to the legal community on the 24th, the Criminal Division 1 of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Seung-ho) recently dismissed charges against Cho and Im, who were reported for abuse of authority.

Former Deputy Prime Ministers Kim Sang-gon and Hong Nam-ki, former Minister Kang Kyung-wha, and former Senior Secretary for Personnel Affairs Cho Hyun-ok, who were also reported together, were all cleared of charges.

Im and others were suspected of being involved in creating a 'blacklist' containing hundreds of public institution executives from the Park Geun-hye government in 2017-2018, and pressuring them to submit resignations or encouraging them to resign. The investigation began after the People Power Party filed complaints against them twice, in 2019 and 2022.

The prosecution investigated about 20 executives of public institutions under five ministries?the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs?who were identified as having been pressured to resign, but most reportedly testified that they were not pressured to resign.

Although some testimonies indicated that there was pressure to resign, the prosecution reportedly failed to secure clear evidence to support these statements.

With this dismissal of charges, the investigation into the Moon Jae-in government blacklist allegations is expected to conclude, having found criminal suspicion only against some ministers of the Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Ministry of Unification, and certain Blue House officials.