Choi Kang-wook, the representative of the Open Democratic Party, who is accused of falsely writing the internship certificate of the son of former Justice Minister Cho Kook, is present at the first trial hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-gu, Seoul on the 28th. Reporter Jang Jin-young
– Choi Kang-wook, the head of the Open Democratic Party, was convicted of falsely issuing an intern certificate for the son of former Justice Minister Cho Kook. It is expected that it will have an adverse effect on the trial of Choi’s alleged violation of the Public Official Election Act and the trial of the former Minister and his wife Cho.
Judge Jeong Jong-gun, who was solely for criminal 9 of the Seoul Central District Court, sentenced CEO Choi, who was convicted of obstruction of work, to eight months in prison and two years of probation. Judge Jung decided that the false writing was correct, saying, “The objective contents of the confirmation document prepared by CEO Choi and the contents of actual performance do not match.”
The internship confirmation document states that Cho’s son performed 16 hours of internship twice a week from January to October 2017. Judge Jeong said, “If I worked 16 hours for 9 months, I would have been internships for an average of 12 minutes at a time, so there aren’t many things I can do for 12 minutes anywhere.” In addition, the claim that Cho’s son worked diligently was considered unreliable on the grounds that the law firm employees stated that they had never seen regular interns.
If the results of this trial are passed down to the Supreme Court, Choi will lose the position of parliament. Under the current law, if a sentence of more than the imprisonment is confirmed, the position of a member of the National Assembly cannot be maintained.
The prosecution believes that Choi falsely issued an intern certificate to the son of former Minister Cho, who did not actually work as an intern in October 2017 when he was working as a lawyer at Cheongmaek Law Firm. The son of former Minister Cho submitted this confirmation to Korea University and Yonsei University graduate school and passed. CEO Choi is accused of interfering with the work of the two graduate evaluators by issuing false certificates even though he knows that his documents will be used for admission.
As the court judges Cho’s son’s intern certificate as false, there is a high possibility that Choi’s future trial will also go unfavorable. Choi is also being tried for falsely proclaiming that it is not true for allegations that he had falsely written an intern certificate for the son of former minister Cho during the general election. In the case of violation of the Public Officials Election Act, the criterion for invalidation of the election is stricter, and if a fine of 1 million won or more is confirmed, the office is lost.
The ruling is also expected to be a variable in the trial of former Minister Cho and his wife, Professor Chung Gyeong-shim of Dongyang University, on the alleged irregularities in admission. After receiving the 2017 internship certificate from CEO Choi, the former Minister and Mrs. Cho are accused of forging the 2018 internship certificate. As the court judged that the 2017 intern certificate, which was used as the material for the 2018 intern certificate, was also false, there was a high possibility that the charges of forgery of the private documents of the former Minister Cho was also convicted.
CEO Choi plans to appeal immediately. He said, “I am very sorry for the recognition and judgment of the court,” he said. “From the term used by the court, I cannot erase the impression that the prosecution was being deceived by the facts unilaterally spread.” He added, “I apologize for not being able to tell you with good results,” he added. “We will do our best to reveal the truth and contain the prosecution’s runaway.”
Reporter Lee Ga-young [email protected]
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