Chung Kyung-sim, former professor at Dongyang University, has filed a criminal complaint against eight Dongyang University officials, including former university president Choi Sung-hae, on charges of destruction of evidence and perjury in connection with the alleged forgery of her daughter Cho Min's Dongyang University award. The case was filed with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on September 30 and has been assigned to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency's Anti-Corruption Investigation Unit. The police are currently reviewing future procedures, including questioning the complainant.
In the complaint, Chung's side presented new evidence to challenge the existing court ruling. The previous ruling concluded that the award could not have been issued because the Language Education Center, the issuing body, had no staff in August-September 2012, the time the award was allegedly issued. However, Chung's legal team claims that a Dongyang University internal document in the name of a staff member from that time has been confirmed. Furthermore, they contend that Choi's testimony during the trial—that he "never approved" and had "no related documents"—was false, and they presented evidence suggesting that related documents were destroyed after an internal meeting at the beginning of the prosecution's investigation, thereby alleging Choi's perjury and destruction of evidence.
This issue was a central point of the "Cho Kuk Crisis," which erupted in 2019 when Cho Kuk (Chung's husband and currently the head of the Rebuilding Korea Party) was nominated for Minister of Justice. Various allegations, including irregularities in their children's university admissions, were raised. Chung and Cho were both convicted, with Chung receiving a confirmed sentence in 2022 and Cho in 2024. Both were granted a special pardon on Liberation Day this year. This lawsuit is interpreted as a post-pardon "counterattack" aiming to overturn the conviction for the award forgery that had implicated the couple.
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