Professors rally against Cho's appointment

Eighty professors rally in front of Cheong Wa Dae in Seoul, Thursday, to condemn President Moon Jae-in's appointment of Cho Kuk, who is embroiled in various corruption allegations involving him and his family members, as justice minister. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Bahk Eun-ji

More than 3,000 professors across the country have called on Justice Minister Cho Kuk to step down, saying his appointment amid various corruption allegations challenges social justice and ethical morality.

About 80 members of a group of professors “hoping for social justice” held a press conference in front of Cheong Wa Dae, central Seoul, Thursday, and demanded President Moon Jae-in replace Cho with someone who could maintain judicial impartiality and receive public approval.

The group posted a statement denouncing the appointment on its website Sept. 13 and has collected 3,396 signatures from former and incumbent professors, from 290 colleges nationwide so far, it said.

The group outnumbered those who called for the impeachment of former President Park Geun-hye at the end of 2016 when she was involved in a massive corruption scandal ― at the time 2,234 professors joined the signature collection.

“Cho faces multiple corruption allegations including managing a private equity fund by taking advantage of his status, and his wife was indicted for fabricating documents for their daughter's graduate school admission. But despite these, Moon appointed him as a justice minister who needs to guide the people to abide by the law; thus breaking social justice and ethics,” they said in the statement.

Regarding the listing of Cho's daughter as the lead author of an academic paper after only two weeks work as an intern, they said this was impossible and only ridicules students in master's and doctorate courses who put in endless work for years on one paper.

“We recognize the need to reform the prosecution and prevent it from interfering with politics. But these tasks can only be carried out when a person who is qualified to do this gets a public consensus,” said professor Choi Won-mog from Ewha Womans University's law school.

Professor Lee Je-bong of the University of Ulsan said, “Learning about the justice minister's family fabricating certificates and the false academic career, who can tell their children that this is a fair society and you can do anything if you try your best?”

In the evening, students of three “prestigious” universities held candlelit protests on their campuses in Seoul to protest Cho's appointment. While students at Seoul National University, where Cho is a professor, and Korea University, which his daughter attended, have held rallies several times since last month, this was the first time for Yonsei University to join the protests.

All the rallies were organized by individual students, not by student councils.