Seo Seokho, an attorney and former classmate of former President Yoon Suk Yeol at Seoul National University School of Law, revealed that he visited Yoon at the official residence after Yoon was removed from office.
On May 14, Seo testified to this effect as a witness at the National Assembly Legislation and Judiciary Committee's hearing on the "Fact-Finding Hearing on Allegations of Judicial Intervention in the Presidential Election by Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae and Others."
Seo was called as a witness due to suspicions that he acted as a "mediator" between Supreme Court Chief Justice Cho Hee-dae, who decided to remand the appeal in the public official election law case involving Lee Jae-myung, the Democratic Party's presidential candidate, and former President Yoon.
When asked by Legislation and Judiciary Committee Chairperson Jung Chungrae and others whether he had ever met with Kim Keon Hee, Seo replied, "Before former President Yoon moved out of the official residence, there was a classmate gathering while he was packing, so I went to the residence." When asked about the exact timing, he estimated, "Since the impeachment decision for former President Yoon was on April 4, it must have been April 6."
Seo added that he met Mrs. Kim one more time, stating, "Once, after the (presidential) inauguration, there was an event, so I attended. To the best of my memory, it was at a hanok-style house in the Samcheong-dong area."
When asked if he had ever spoken with former President Yoon by phone, Seo said, "After the emergency martial law, he called me to ask for a professor's contact information, but I missed the call. When I called back, former President Yoon said, 'I resolved it in the meantime.' That was the only call we had."
He also revealed that he donated 10 million won to former President Yoon during the 2022 presidential election.
However, Seo emphasized that, contrary to some suspicions, he has no personal relationship with Chief Justice Cho, who is his senior from both high school and university. Seo stated, "We were in different classes at the Judicial Research and Training Institute, and since I became a lawyer, I never had any opportunity to meet him as a judge."
Seo, who previously worked at Kim & Chang, responded to a question from Democratic Party lawmaker Park Kyuntaek about whether he knew former Prime Minister Han Ducksoo, who also worked at Kim & Chang, by saying, "I have no personal relationship with him at all."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
