Choi Soonsil’s Daughter Jung Yura Jailed After Skipping Trial on Fraud Charges

Borrowed About 700 Million Won From Acquaintance, Allegedly to Help Her Mother

Indicted Without Detention, Then Jailed After Failing To Appear In Court

During the Park Geun-hye administration, Jung Yuyeon, daughter of Choi Seowon (formerly Choi Soonsil), the central figure in the so-called "state affairs manipulation" scandal, was indicted without detention on fraud charges but was taken into custody and jailed after failing to appear in court.

According to the Corrections Headquarters of the Ministry of Justice on the 18th, Jung was arrested on the 13th and is currently held at Uijeongbu Prison. As a rule, prisons house inmates whose sentences have been finalized, but Uijeongbu Prison is a correctional facility that also accommodates pretrial detainees.

Jeong Yuyeon (formerly Jeong Yura), the daughter of Choi Seowon (formerly Choi Soonsil), a central figure in the 'manipulation of state affairs' scandal. Yonhap News

Jung is accused of borrowing large sums of money multiple times from an acquaintance, identified as A, and failing to repay them. From September 2022 to November 2023, she is reported to have borrowed 698 million won from A, saying she needed funds for lobbying to secure a pardon for her mother Choi, as well as attorney’s fees and her mother’s hospital expenses.

A filed a criminal complaint in August 2024. The Namyangju Nambu Police Station in Gyeonggi Province referred Jung to the prosecution in March last year, and the Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Prosecutors’ Office subsequently indicted her without detention sometime between August and September last year on fraud charges involving roughly 70 million won.

While Jung continued her activities on social media (SNS) and YouTube, she repeatedly failed to appear for hearings at the Namyangju Branch of the Uijeongbu District Court. In response, the court issued an arrest warrant for her, and she was arrested on the 13th. If a defendant standing trial without detention refuses to appear without just cause, the court may issue an arrest warrant. The warrant is executed by the public prosecution department of the prosecutors’ office, and if the defendant cannot be immediately apprehended, a wanted notice is issued.

This is the first time Jung has been taken into custody. Her mother Choi was sentenced to three years in prison on charges of arranging Jung’s illicit admission to Ewha Womans University during the state affairs manipulation scandal that erupted between 2016 and 2017. In connection with the scandal, Choi was also sentenced to 21 years in prison on charges including abuse of authority and bribery, and has been serving her sentence since 2016, now in her ninth year of incarceration. Jung was detained in Denmark in January 2017 on charges of illegal stay and was extradited to South Korea. The prosecution then sought an arrest warrant for Jung on charges including irregularities in the Ewha Womans University admissions process, but the court rejected the request.

In November last year, Jung also publicly solicited donations through her social media, saying she would pursue a retrial for her mother. At the time, she appealed to her supporters, saying, “What did my mom do so terribly wrong that she has to be locked up longer than a murderer?” and “All the preparations for the (court) filing are complete and we only need to submit it, but we have not been able to pay the lawyers their fees.”