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| Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk leaves the Seoul Central District Court, Friday, after being sentenced to a two-year prison term for academic fraud and other charges. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho |
By Jun Ji-hye
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.
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| Cho Min, the daughter of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, speaks during a YouTube interview in this photo captured Monday from the YouTube channel run by popular liberal broadcaster Kim Ou-joon. Captured from YouTube |
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.
"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.
Regarding her qualification as a doctor, which has been at the center of controversy, Cho Min said, "My scores were enough to enter the medical school. I have also been told (by some senior doctors and colleagues) that I have enough qualifications as a doctor."
The interview has attracted criticism from medical circles.
Noh Hwan-kyu, the former president of the Korea Medical Association who now heads the Korean Association of Vein Pain, said Cho Min and her family acted immorally and went against the law in their attempts to have their daughter admitted to the medical school.
"It is a huge problem that the person who has violated ethics required of doctors still maintains qualifications as a doctor," he wrote on his Facebook account.
Lim Hyun-taek, who heads the Korean Pediatric Association, also wrote on his Facebook, "I am still afraid of treating patients in many cases although I have decades of experience. But this person who only had about a year of experience as an intern said she has enough qualifications as a doctor."
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