The Supreme Court's ruling on Cho Kuk, leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, who was sentenced to prison in the first and second trials for charges including admission fraud involving his children and the cover-up of an inspection related to Yoo Jae-su, former Deputy Mayor for Economic Affairs of Busan, will be announced on the 12th of next month.
According to the legal community on the 22nd, the Supreme Court's Third Division (Presiding Justice Eom Sang-pil) has set the date for the final appeal verdict of Cho, who was indicted on charges including obstruction of business, violation of the Anti-Graft Act, abuse of authority, and obstruction of the exercise of rights, for December 12.
Cho was indicted in December 2019 on charges of admission fraud involving his children and illegal receipt of scholarships by his daughter, Cho Min. Additionally, there are charges that he violated the Public Officials Ethics Act by failing to submit a blind trust and falsely reporting assets upon his appointment as Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs, as well as instructing a private banker (PB) to hide hard drives from his home PC (instruction to conceal evidence).
In February last year, the first trial court found him guilty of most charges related to admission fraud involving his children and obstruction of the exercise of rights by the special inspection team, sentencing him to two years in prison. The first trial court stated, "The motive and nature of the crime are serious, and the crime severely undermined social trust in the fairness of the admission system, thus the culpability is heavy." The second trial court's ruling in February also upheld this judgment. However, Cho was not detained in court.
If the Supreme Court confirms the lower court rulings, Cho will lose his seat as a member of the National Assembly.
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