LIVE Confirmation hearing for Justice minister nominee Cho Kuk
Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk at the confirmation hearing at the National Assembly in Seoul, Friday. Yonhap
Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk is attending a confirmation hearing Friday amid heated controversy over whether he is qualified to lead the ministry due to a host of corruption allegations involving him and his family.
The session, which began at 10 a.m., comes as President Moon Jae-in has asked the National Assembly to send a hearing report by Friday, a procedural step toward appointing the embattled nominee.
Since being nominated in early August, Cho has faced a string of corruption allegations, including that his daughter received preferential treatment in entering elite colleges and that his family made a dubious investment in a private equity fund.
In particular, the allegations linked to his 28-year-old daughter have hit a public nerve in a country where admission to prestigious universities is a sensitive issue.
Cho's daughter was listed as the primary author of a pathology paper published in a medical journal in 2018, while she was still in high school, after she took part in a two-week internship program under a medical professor. Critics allege that the paper may have helped her gain admission to Korea University in 2010.
Ahead of the hearing, fresh allegations were raised that Cho's wife may have fabricated a school award for her daughter.
Cho's wife, a Dongyang University professor surnamed Chung, faces allegations that she forged the dean's award certificate in 2012 to help the daughter enter a 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.
Cho, former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, has denied the key allegations and said he will explain everything at a confirmation hearing, if needed.
Cho, also a law professor, is viewed as an iconic figure who could complete President Moon's vision to reform the state prosecution. The nominee told reporters on Monday that now is the optimal time to carry out the reform of the prosecution.
The prosecution has carried out raids on more than 20 locations linked to the corruption scandal since last week as part of its investigation into the allegations. The ruling Democratic Party (DP) openly condemned the probe as a move intended to hamper Moon's reform vision.
The presidential office Cheong Wa Dae and the prosecution clashed over the investigation Thursday as the office of state prosecutors made a rare public protest urging presidential officials to stop intervening in its probe. Cheong Wa Dae immediately denied any interference. (Yonhap)