I wonder if there has ever been a political party formed with its main goal of revenge against a sitting President’s wife?:
Cho Kuk, the leader of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party, which caused a sensation in the April 10 general elections, has continued his “half-yoon” (half-yoon Seok-yeol) stance every day.
On the 15th, CEO Cho said on his social networking service (SNS), “Tensions are rising in the president’s office and within the prosecution over the position of the next Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office,” adding, “Tensions and dark battles are unfolding between high-level prosecutors in Yoon Line.” Loyalty to President Yoon Suk Yeol and his position on handling allegations related to Geom Gun-hee are the key criteria for selection.
“President Yoon is looking for someone who will act as a brazen shield for himself and his spouse, who are destined to become a ‘dead-duck’ soon, and wield a more ruthless sword against his political opponent,” he said. “President Yoon’s interest in running state affairs, which is close to zero, is now all about himself and his spouse.”
On the 11th, Chairman Cho Kuk and proportional winners of the Cho Kuk Innovation Party held a press conference in front of the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office in Seocho-dong, Seoul, and said, “I warn the prosecution for the last time. He also shouted, “Investigate Kim Gun-hee.”
On this day, he voiced his strong voice, saying, “I will propose the Kim Gun-hee Special Prosecutor Act at the 22nd National Assembly.”
Maeil Kyeongchae
You can read more at the link, but ROK heads may remembe that when Cho was the Justice Minister for former President Moon, the then Chief Prosecutor Yoon Suk-yeol indicted Cho’s wife. Cho’s wife was later convicted for document forgery in an effort to get their daughter into medical school. She was sentenced to four years in prison before getting paroled after about 1.5 years in jail. Their daughter would have to later give up her medical degrees as well.
So now Cho Kuk is back with his own political party that performed well in last week’s parlimentary elections. He is using his new political power to go after President Yoon’s wife over the dubious handbag scandal and try and put her in jail.
It looks like Cho Kuk has made his revenge politically against President Yoon for previously prosecuting him and his family for corruption:
One notable winner from the election is former Minister of Justice Cho Kuk, the leader of the Rebuilding Korea Party (RKP), a major third party that is projected to win twelve seats. He was previously forced to resign as justice minister and sentenced to two years in detention (he has yet to go to prison) over a scandal involving allegations of him falsifying records. He returned to politics under his newly formed party just a month before this election.
The RKP gained support largely from middle-aged, progressive Koreans who strongly oppose the PPP but are also fed up with the ineffectualness and unceasing corruption scandals within the DP. Cho has set himself up to be an important kingmaker in the National Assembly and will most likely cooperate with the DP to obstruct Yoon’s agenda. He opposes Yoon not on ideological grounds but also bears a personal grudge against Yoon for prosecuting him on corruption charges. In addition, Cho had promised to investigate First Lady Kim Keon-hee for alleged stock manipulation if DP and his party won enough seats.
Council on Foregin Relations
You can read more at the link, but those his party was only formed a few weeks ago it looks like he could win up to 15 seats in the parliament making him a potential king maker for the Democratic Party who is in the majority.
If there is anyone that regrets working for the prior Moon administration it has to be Cho Kuk because he has lost a lot to include his university position now:
Seoul National University’s disciplinary committee decided Tuesday to fire former Justice Minister Cho Kuk as law professor after a court sentenced him to a two-year prison term on charges of using his influence to get academic favors for his children, including university admissions.
In February, the Seoul Central District Court gave the prison term to Cho, who served under the previous Moon Jae-in administration, on charges of business obstruction, bribery and abuse of power.
Cho was indicted in December 2019 and the next month the university relieved him of his duties at its law school.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
It is amazing how far the Cho Kuk family has fallen for something likely many other Korean politicians and other in positions of power are guilty of as well:
Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk and his daughter Cho Min have been facing criticism over their unrepentant attitude toward the high-profile corruption scandal involving their family.
According to legal sources, Tuesday, the Seoul Central District Court reprimanded Cho Kuk while sentencing him to two years in prison last Friday, saying he has never reflected on his wrongdoings.
The former minister, who was indicted in 2019, was found guilty of multiple charges, including using his influence to help his two children gain entry into universities and graduate schools. The court, however, did not immediately incarcerate him, citing escape was not a concern.
“Cho Kuk has continued to argue against objective evidence even after he stood before this court,” the court said in its ruling. “He has continued to turn a blind eye to his wrongdoings and never reflected on them. Consequently, imposing harsh penalties on him is unavoidable.”
The court said the corruption involving his children’s school admission was contrary to social expectations and obligation as a renowned professor, and that it damaged justice in the country’s school admissions system.
Cho Kuk was an outspoken liberal law professor at Seoul National University until he served under the previous Moon Jae-in administration.
On the same day, the court gave another year in prison to the former minister’s wife Chung Kyung-sim ― who is already serving a four-year sentence for academic fraud ― on related charges.
Despite their parents’ conviction, Cho Min said she did not feel ashamed of herself at all, during an interview with left-leaning broadcaster Kim Ou-joon.The interview, filmed Friday, the day her father was convicted, was aired on Monday through Kim’s YouTube channel. It marked the first time that Cho Min had shown her face since the corruption scandal involving the family made headlines in 2019.
Korea Times
“Prosecutors, media and political circles were so harsh to my family for the past four years,” Cho Min said.
The younger Cho passed the state exam to become a doctor and graduated from the medical school of Pusan National University (PNU) located in the southern port city of Busan in 2021.
But the medical school decided to revoke her admission in the same year following her mother’s conviction over forging her daughter’s academic records to gain entry to the school.
Cho Min has filed a lawsuit, requesting the court to cancel this decision, with trials still underway.
You can read more at the link, but I can under why the daughter is unrepentant because she has a lot to lose if she doesn’t win her court case by not becoming a doctor.
I don’t like the corrupt Cho Kuk either, but this lawsuit seems pretty frivolous to me:
Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk was sued Tuesday by 1,618 individuals for inflicting what the plaintiffs have called psychological damages “caused by Cho’s lies and illegal activities.”
Joong Ang Ilbo
In the class-action lawsuit, filed at the Seoul Central District Court, the plaintiffs demand compensation of 1 million won ($900) per person from Cho, claiming that his actions caused them “depression, hair loss, insomnia, rage-related disorders, suicidal tendencies and anger management issues.”
Lawyer Kim So-yeon, a member of the opposition People Power Party (PPP) who represents the plaintiffs, asked people in September to join the lawsuit through a link on her Facebook page where she wrote, “I am pursuing a class-action lawsuit due to requests from many people who have suffered extreme stress and even developed illnesses due to Cho’s numerous lies regarding his private equity fund, his daughter’s academic fraud and his son’s university admission.”
You can read more at the link, but the article says that the lawsuit will likely not even get a hearing.
Anyone following the corruption allegations against Cho Kuk and his family should find none of this news surprising:
![In this file photo, then-Senior Presidential Secretary for Civil Affairs Cho Kuk, right, and Park Hyoung-chul, then-anticorruption secretary, enter a Blue House ceremony to appoint Yoon Seok-youl as the new prosecutor general on July 25, 2019. On Friday, Park testified against Cho in a trial that Cho had ordered him to shut down a Blue House audit into Yoo Jae-soo, a senior financial official, when they worked together in 2017. [YONHAP]](https://i0.wp.com/koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/data/photo/2020/10/26/7b505e0a-c28f-4422-a6af-9a99da11a416.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)
A former presidential secretary in charge of anticorruption has made a series of statements that Cho Kuk, a former justice minister and senior secretary for civil affairs in President Moon Jae-in’s administration, abused his power to shut down a probe into one of the president’s political allies.
Park Hyoung-chul offered the testimony Friday during a Seoul Central District Court trial in which he and two others — Cho and Baek Won-woo, former presidential secretary for civil affairs — are all charged with abuse of power.
Testifying during the seventh session of their trial, Park said that Cho had ordered him to shut down the Blue House’s audit into corruption allegations against Yoo Jae-soo, a former public servant and a political ally of Moon.
Park said the December 2017 audit indicated that Yoo, who was serving as the financial policy director of the Financial Services Commission, had received bribes. Park said his office wanted to continue the investigation or send the case to the investigative authorities, such as the Board of Audit and Inspection, but Cho decided to shut it down.
You can read more at the link, but at this point with Moon’s ally Choo Mi-ae installed as the Justice Minister, Cho Kuk is now pretty much protected from being prosecuted for any crimes.
