1/The important part is not in the headlines. Moon held a cabinet meeting at KIST, and Cho Kuk was there. Moon & Cho were pressuring KIST to say Cho Kuk's daughter did an internship there, when she didn't. Cho's daughter claimed she was an intern there…https://t.co/3HLgzX52J4
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) September 11, 2019
Here is what came out of the ROK Justice Minister confirmation hearings. He essentially denied all the corruption claims and if any did happen they were his wife’s fault:
Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk denied he had any part in alleged corruption involving his family during a confirmation hearing Friday, as political parties wrangled over his suitability for the post.
Cho repeatedly apologized to the public for the allegations that have caused public disappointment and uproar, but he also expressed his unwavering commitment to carrying out reform of the prosecution.
“For the reform, I think that a proper candidate for justice minister should have no experience serving as a prosecutor. If not, the person cannot help representing interests of the prosecution,” Cho told lawmakers.
Cho, a former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, was bombarded with questions by lawmakers over his supposed ethical lapses linked to suspected corruption involving his family.
Yonhap
Here is where new allegations have surfaced and he blamed his wife:
During the hearing, lawmakers mainly bickered over fresh allegations that Cho’s spouse may have fabricated a school award for her daughter.
Cho’s wife, a Dongyang University professor surnamed Chung, faces allegations that she may have forged the dean’s award certificate in 2012 to help the daughter enter the PNU 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.
Dongyang University Dean Choi Sung-hae said Thursday that Chung asked him to say he had entrusted her with the authority to issue the dean’s award certificate. His remarks spawned speculation that Chung may have attempted to destroy evidence.
Choi told Yonhap News Agency that Chung put her husband on the phone with him and he was pressed by Cho to make a false statement on the forgery allegations against Chung.
Cho acknowledged that he spoke by phone with Choi, but dismissed claims that he might have exerted pressure on the chief.
“I told Choi that I am sorry (about the row) and asked him to reveal the truth as it is,” Cho said.
“If my wife committed (the alleged forgery), she should have to take legal responsibility, as everybody is equal before law,” he noted.
Look how brazen Cho is that he knows he is under intense scrutiny, but still gets on the phone to pressure a witness before his confirmation hearing and then blames his wife for anything illegal that may have happened.
He knows just like other corrupt Moon administration officials that he will get appointed and the public flogging he is taking now will be quickly forgotten by a largely Blue House controlled news media.
1/
— bmk218 (@bmk218) September 4, 2019
Mr. Hwang reports now >60% ROK ppl are against Cho Kuk appointed as justice minister. Even Moon's main supporters, housewives, are against Cho. But, Moon still plan to appoint Cho this week. https://t.co/mMJZUB6pbO
Wow. There are still those who support Cho Kuk & want to portray him as "just." He also said having sex with minor should not be a crime if there's a consent. But wait. There's more, like corruption, subversion, abuse of authority, China's CCP money…https://t.co/47QHAXpKCq https://t.co/6hB3YFAwkc
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) September 3, 2019
It appears that the confirmation process for Cho Kuk was drawn out specifically to pass the deadline for calling witnesses like the opposition party wanted to do. Because of this only Cho Kuk will testify and of course he will deny everything and then get appointed as the next Justice Minister and then subsequently have the power to squash any investigation in to him:
South Korea’s ruling and main opposition parties on Wednesday agreed to hold a confirmation hearing for a disputed justice minister candidate later this week.
The rival parties had been in a row over scheduling the parliamentary hearing of Justice Minister nominee Cho Kuk, who faces corruption allegations involving his family.
The dramatic agreement was reached during a meeting at the National Assembly between Na Kyung-won, floor leader of the main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP), and her ruling Democratic Party (DP) counterpart Lee In-young.
“There was a gap in our opinion, but we’ve agreed to hold a confirmation hearing for Cho on Friday judging that it is desirable to fulfill the parliament’s duty,” Na told reporters.
Lee said the two sides have agreed not to request that Cho’s family members attend the hearing.
“The legal deadline for summoning witnesses has passed. We will be proceeding with the confirmation hearing without witnesses,” the DP floor leader said.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link.
The Moon administration is continuing to try and push Cho Kuk into the powerful Justice Minister position despite the corruption allegations:
Cheong Wa Dae on Friday ratcheted up pressure on the National Assembly to hold a confirmation hearing for the justice minister nominee, frustrated by a political dogfight over the issue.
Cho Kuk, a law professor who served as senior presidential secretary for civil affairs, is at the center of intensifying bickering between ruling and major opposition parties.
Three weeks earlier, President Moon Jae-in nominated Cho to be the new justice minister amid his drive to reform the state prosecution.
Cho, however, has faced harsh political attacks and public condemnation over a host of scandals, including suspicions about his daughter’s entry into coveted schools in South Korea and dubious investment in a private equity fund (PEF) by Cho and his family members.
Political parties have agreed to open a two-day hearing next Monday but failed to reach a deal on details, including the list of witnesses.
The main opposition Liberty Korea Party (LKP) says the nominee’s wife and other family members should testify in parliament as well.
The ruling Democratic Party is opposed to the call, stressing that it’s enough to give Cho an opportunity to explain the scandals.
Yonhap
You can read more at the link, but obviously the ruling party does not want Cho Kuk’s family members to testify because there is no way to explain away the alleged corruption involving his daughter.
This whole Cho Kuk nomination shows how committed the Moon administration is towards changing the ROK Constitution to make it easier to form a confederation with North Korea and allow President Moon to run for a second term. Moon’s close friend Cho Kuk becoming the Justice Minister is part of this strategy.
After his confirmation the next part of their strategy will be increasing their hold in the National Assembly in the 2020 elections to facilitate changing the ROK Constitution. This is why the Moon administration needs to continue to play the anti-Japan card and depending how things go with North Korea, we may even see the anti-US card played as well leading up to the election.
To be fair President Moon’s job approval rating is still pretty high considering all the scandals and poor economy:
Public sentiment toward President Moon Jae-in is becoming noticeably negative in light of various setbacks at home and abroad, with negative assessments of his job performance exceeding 50 percent, for the first time since he took office in May 2017, in a weekly Realmeter survey.
The survey published Monday showed that 50.4 percent of respondents thought Moon was doing a bad job in the third week of August, marking a 4.1 percent increase from the previous week. The pollster said the biggest reason for this was the escalating political row over one of his most trusted aides, Cho Kuk. The rival parties agreed to hold a two-day confirmation hearing from Sept. 2 for the justice minister nominee who is at the center of a widening scandal over allegations of corruption and unethical behavior involving himself and his family members.
Korea Times
You can read more at the link.
Cho Kuk was a mber of Sanomaeng (Socialist Workers League of Korea). Its goal was to overthrow #SouthKorean system for workers' socialist revolution by armed uprising. Cho said he's not ashamed of it. Moon designated Cho to be the Justice Minister.https://t.co/uA6GW88ejv
— Tara O (@DrTaraO) August 22, 2019
Which have been greater: the anti-Abe or anti-Moon protests? I have heard there were massive anti-Moon demonstrations that the administration controlled broadcast media did not report. https://t.co/118yQUvhtZ
— David Maxwell (@DavidMaxwell161) August 22, 2019
It is pretty clear that the Blue House is going to take the Kang Kyung-hwa approach to getting President Moon’s Justice Minister nominee approved:
Cho Kuk promised Friday to donate all his family’s scandal-plagued wealth to society in an attempt to keep his justice minister nomination from being derailed.
Cho, however, remained silent about suspected academic fraud and other scandals surrounding his daughter, which have become the focus of public disquiet over his controversial nomination.
“My family and I have been loved by society, but I failed to have the humility to look back on myself,” Cho said in a press conference broadcast live Friday afternoon. He promised to quickly donate his family’s investments in a private equity fund and its ownership of a private school foundation to society at large.
Joong Ang Ilbo
You can read more at the link, but the current ROK Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-hwa had similar ethical issues as Cho and made face saving public statements like Cho is now making to get approved.
However, Cho’s ethical lapses are even worse than Kang’s:
He made clear, however, that he wouldn’t abandon his nomination to head the Ministry of Justice. “Please trust my sincerity and watch me till the end,” he said. “I will work with a humble attitude.”
Despite media reporting on suspicious wealth management, Cho insisted the family never used illegal means. While promising to donate the controversial family money and school foundation, Cho gave no explanation about any specific allegation.
After reading the brief statement about his family’s wealth, Cho ended the press conference without taking any questions. Conspicuously missing in his statement was any mention about the most volatile elements of the scandal surrounding his family, which involve his daughter.
Cho’s 28-year-old daughter, who currently attends Pusan National University’s Graduate School of Medicine, is suspected of having been wrongly cited as the first author of an English-language paper published in the Korean Journal of Pathology in 2008 and using that accomplishment to gain admission to Korea University in 2010.
The professor in charge of the controversial paper admitted Thursday that he had given special treatment to Cho’s daughter.
“She was responsible for experiments and editing of the paper,” Chang Young-pyo, a professor in the Department of Medical Science at Dankook University, told the JoongAng Ilbo on Thursday. “I was responsible for data analysis and writing the first draft of the paper. I cannot deny that a favor was given to her by crediting her as the first author.”
You can read more at the link, but ROK Heads may remember that one of the reasons former ROK President Park Geun-hye was impeached was because the daughter of her friend Choi Soon-sil, received special treatment to get admitted to college as well.
