The conviction of Choi Kang-wook, former member of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was prosecuted for making false statements related to the internship activities of the son of Cho Kuk, leader of the Innovation Party, has been finalized.
The Supreme Court upheld the lower court's ruling that there was no issue with the judgment that Choi, who ran as a proportional representation candidate in the 2000 National Assembly election, lied to get elected by issuing an internship confirmation letter despite the fact that Cho's son did not actually intern at his law firm, at the request of Cho's wife, Jung Kyung-shim.
The Supreme Court's 3rd Division (Presiding Justice Oh Seok-jun) on the 12th confirmed the second trial's sentence of a fine of 800,000 won against Choi, who was indicted for violating the Public Official Election Act.
The court explained the reason for dismissing Choi's appeal, stating, "There is no error in the lower court's judgment that it did not violate the rules of logic and experience, did not exceed the limits of free evaluation of evidence, and did not misinterpret the legal principles regarding the establishment of the crime of false statement under the Public Official Election Act or abuse of prosecution rights."
Choi was prosecuted for violating the Public Official Election Act after appearing on an internet podcast on March 31, 2020, during the general election period, where he made statements implying that the internship confirmation letter for Cho's son was issued truthfully and that the son had actually interned.
However, the prosecution's investigation revealed that Cho's son had never interned at the law firm operated by Choi, and that Choi had issued a false internship confirmation letter at the request of Jung.
Previously, the first and second trials recognized Choi's guilt and sentenced him to a fine of 800,000 won.
The first and second trial courts found that although Cho's son did not intern, Choi falsely issued the internship confirmation letter, and that the statement implying actual internship was made with the purpose of getting elected.
During the trial, Choi raised the so-called 'accusation inducement' suspicion and argued abuse of prosecution rights by the prosecution, but this was not accepted.
The second trial court ruled, "Since the prosecutor initiated and proceeded with the investigation based on the accusation and then judged that the elements of the crime were met and filed charges, it cannot be concluded that the prosecution is an abuse of prosecution rights solely based on the circumstances of the submission of the accusation that triggered the investigation."
Meanwhile, Choi was also indicted for obstruction of business related to issuing a false internship confirmation letter to Cho's son, and in September last year, the Supreme Court confirmed an 8-month prison sentence with a 2-year probation, resulting in the loss of his parliamentary seat.
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