Is anyone surprised that Cho Kuk lied about his daughter’s academic fraud:
Justice Minister Cho Kuk, right, makes a courtesy call on Lee Hae-chan, left, chairman of the ruling Democratic Party, at the National Assembly in western Seoul on Tuesday. [YONHAP]
Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s daughter did take credit for a controversial medical research paper in her application to Korea University in 2010, the JoongAng Ilbo reported Tuesday – which Cho himself denied in his confirmation hearing on Sept. 6.
The research paper from Dankook University’s Medical Science Research Institute credited Cho’s daughter as first author even though she was just a high school intern.
“During a raid of Korea University, the prosecution seized records concerning the 2010 admission process, including a list of materials that Cho’s daughter had submitted as a part of her application,” a university official told the JoongAng Ilbo.
Although the application itself and other submitted materials were discarded because the five-year mandatory archive period had passed, the list of materials she submitted remained, the official said.
You can read more at the link, but you would think the university’s his daughter applied to would find it odd that a high school student was the lead author of a medical research paper.
Cho Kuk hires 14 lawyers to defend him/his family. Cho Kuk, the day after becoming the Justice Minister, uses his power to reduce the prosecution staff/resources investigating his various unethical/illegal activities. #AbuseOfPower at a miminimum. https://t.co/B39lCqiJqv
1/The important part is not in the headlines. Moon held a cabinet meeting at KIST, and Cho Kuk was there. Moon & Cho were pressuring KIST to say Cho Kuk's daughter did an internship there, when she didn't. Cho's daughter claimed she was an intern there…https://t.co/3HLgzX52J4
Here is what came out of the ROK Justice Minister confirmation hearings. He essentially denied all the corruption claims and if any did happen they were his wife’s fault:
Cho Kuk
Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk denied he had any part in alleged corruption involving his family during a confirmation hearing Friday, as political parties wrangled over his suitability for the post.
Cho repeatedly apologized to the public for the allegations that have caused public disappointment and uproar, but he also expressed his unwavering commitment to carrying out reform of the prosecution.
“For the reform, I think that a proper candidate for justice minister should have no experience serving as a prosecutor. If not, the person cannot help representing interests of the prosecution,” Cho told lawmakers.
Cho, a former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, was bombarded with questions by lawmakers over his supposed ethical lapses linked to suspected corruption involving his family.
Here is where new allegations have surfaced and he blamed his wife:
During the hearing, lawmakers mainly bickered over fresh allegations that Cho’s spouse may have fabricated a school award for her daughter.
Cho’s wife, a Dongyang University professor surnamed Chung, faces allegations that she may have forged the dean’s award certificate in 2012 to help the daughter enter the PNU medical school in 2014.
The award was allegedly given in recognition of volunteer work at the school’s English education center for children from rural villages in Yeongju, 230 kilometers southeast of Seoul. Chung later became the chief of the center.
Dongyang University Dean Choi Sung-hae said Thursday that Chung asked him to say he had entrusted her with the authority to issue the dean’s award certificate. His remarks spawned speculation that Chung may have attempted to destroy evidence.
Choi told Yonhap News Agency that Chung put her husband on the phone with him and he was pressed by Cho to make a false statement on the forgery allegations against Chung.
Cho acknowledged that he spoke by phone with Choi, but dismissed claims that he might have exerted pressure on the chief.
“I told Choi that I am sorry (about the row) and asked him to reveal the truth as it is,” Cho said.
“If my wife committed (the alleged forgery), she should have to take legal responsibility, as everybody is equal before law,” he noted.
Look how brazen Cho is that he knows he is under intense scrutiny, but still gets on the phone to pressure a witness before his confirmation hearing and then blames his wife for anything illegal that may have happened.
1/ Mr. Hwang reports now >60% ROK ppl are against Cho Kuk appointed as justice minister. Even Moon's main supporters, housewives, are against Cho. But, Moon still plan to appoint Cho this week. https://t.co/mMJZUB6pbO
Wow. There are still those who support Cho Kuk & want to portray him as "just." He also said having sex with minor should not be a crime if there's a consent. But wait. There's more, like corruption, subversion, abuse of authority, China's CCP money…https://t.co/47QHAXpKCqhttps://t.co/6hB3YFAwkc
It appears that the confirmation process for Cho Kuk was drawn out specifically to pass the deadline for calling witnesses like the opposition party wanted to do. Because of this only Cho Kuk will testify and of course he will deny everything and then get appointed as the next Justice Minister and then subsequently have the power to squash any investigation in to him:
Cho Kuk speaks to reporters during his commute to the hearing preparation office on Sept. 4, 2019. (Yonhap)
South Korea’s ruling and main opposition parties on Wednesday agreed to hold a confirmation hearing for a disputed justice minister candidate later this week.
The rival parties had been in a row over scheduling the parliamentary hearing of Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk, who faces corruption allegations involving his family.
The dramatic agreement was reached during a meeting at the National Assembly between Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), and her ruling Democratic Party (DP) counterpart Lee In-young.
“There was a gap in our opinion, but we’ve agreed to hold a confirmation hearing for Cho on Friday judging that it is desirable to fulfill the parliament’s duty,” Na told reporters.
Lee said the two sides have agreed not to request that Cho’s family members attend the hearing.
“The legal deadline for summoning witnesses has passed. We will be proceeding with the confirmation hearing without witnesses,” the DP floor leader said.
The Moon administration is continuing to try and push Cho Kuk into the powerful Justice Minister position despite the corruption allegations:
Kang Gi-jung, senior Cheong Wa Dae secretary for political affairs, holds a press briefing on Aug. 30, 2019.
Cheong Wa Dae on Friday ratcheted up pressure on the National Assembly to hold a confirmation hearing for the justice minister nominee, frustrated by a political dogfight over the issue.
Cho Kuk, a law professor who served as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, is at the center of intensifying bickering between ruling and major opposition parties.
Three weeks earlier, President Moon Jae-in nominated Cho to be the new justice minister amid his drive to reform the state prosecution.
Cho, however, has faced harsh political attacks and public condemnation over a host of scandals, including suspicions about his daughter’s entry into coveted schools in South Korea and dubious investment in a private equity fund (PEF) by Cho and his family members.
Political parties have agreed to open a two-day hearing next Monday but failed to reach a deal on details, including the list of witnesses.
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) says the nominee’s wife and other family members should testify in parliament as well.
The ruling Democratic Party is opposed to the call, stressing that it’s enough to give Cho an opportunity to explain the scandals.
You can read more at the link, but obviously the ruling party does not want Cho Kuk’s family members to testify because there is no way to explain away the alleged corruption involving his daughter.
This whole Cho Kuk nomination shows how committed the Moon administration is towards changing the ROK Constitution to make it easier to form a confederation with North Korea and allow President Moon to run for a second term. Moon’s close friend Cho Kuk becoming the Justice Minister is part of this strategy.
After his confirmation the next part of their strategy will be increasing their hold in the National Assembly in the 2020 elections to facilitate changing the ROK Constitution. This is why the Moon administration needs to continue to play the anti-Japan card and depending how things go with North Korea, we may even see the anti-US card played as well leading up to the election.
To be fair President Moon’s job approval rating is still pretty high considering all the scandals and poor economy:
Public sentiment toward President Moon Jae-in is becoming noticeably negative in light of various setbacks at home and abroad, with negative assessments of his job performance exceeding 50 percent, for the first time since he took office in May 2017, in a weekly Realmeter survey.
The survey published Monday showed that 50.4 percent of respondents thought Moon was doing a bad job in the third week of August, marking a 4.1 percent increase from the previous week. The pollster said the biggest reason for this was the escalating political row over one of his most trusted aides, Cho Kuk. The rival parties agreed to hold a two-day confirmation hearing from Sept. 2 for the justice minister nominee who is at the center of a widening scandal over allegations of corruption and unethical behavior involving himself and his family members.
Cho Kuk was a mber of Sanomaeng (Socialist Workers League of Korea). Its goal was to overthrow #SouthKorean system for workers' socialist revolution by armed uprising. Cho said he's not ashamed of it. Moon designated Cho to be the Justice Minister.https://t.co/uA6GW88ejv
