Justice minister’s daughter questioned
Prosecutors questioned Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s daughter, Monday, over allegations that she received illicit favorable treatment in her academic career due to her parents’ influence.
The Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office confirmed Tuesday that the 28-year-old complied with a summons and was questioned the previous day, before returning home.
She was questioned over allegations of fabrication and exaggeration of her awards and internships as well as admissions to Korea University and the medical school at Pusan National University (PNU) based on the suspicious achievements.
Cho’s daughter was listed as the lead author of a paper published in a renowned medical journal although she only took part in a two-week internship at a local medical school as a high school student. The professor in charge of the research was the father of one of her high school classmates.
Many critics believe the academic paper may have helped her enroll in Korea University, one of the nation’s most prestigious schools.
She also received a certificate for an internship program at the Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) despite only appearing there on two days of the three-week program. It was also found that the internship overlapped with her volunteer activity in Kenya. Suspicions were that the certificate was given because of the possible ties between her mother and a KIST professor.
The daughter also received a certificate for volunteer activity at an English education center of Dongyang University, where her mother, Chung Kyung-sim, is a professor. Dongyang’s president earlier told media that he did not remember issuing any such award for Cho’s daughter. The prosecution indicted Chung, alleging she fabricated the certificate.
Cho’s daughter used the certificates from KIST and Dongyang to apply for PNU’s medical school.
Prosecutors are investigating whether the academic paper and the certificates played a key factor in her admission to Korea University and PNU, questioning officials from the schools as well.
If the paper and the certificates are proven to have been issued illegally and if they played a big role in her being admitted to the schools, her graduation from Korea University could be revoked, and she could be expelled from PNU.
At PNU, she also received a total 12 million won ($10,090) in scholarships for six straight semesters from 2016 to 2018 although she flunked twice. It is alleged the scholarships were possible due to ties between her father and her professor.
In the meantime, the justice minister’s cousin was arrested, late Monday, over the family’s suspicious investments in a private equity fund (PEF).
Cho’s wife and two children invested 1.05 billion won — 950 million from Cho’s wife and 50 million won each from the children — in a PEF titled Blue Core Value-up 1, which was managed by Co-Link Private Equity.
Suspicions are that the cousin, Cho Beom-dong, 36, is the de facto owner of Co-Link Private Equity and Cho’s wife was involved in managing the fund — which is against the law on public officials because the justice minister was working at Cheong Wa Dae at the time.
The prosecution has been questioning the cousin over exactly how the family invested the money in the fund and whether Chung was involved in the investment decision.
After the fund invested 1.38 billion won in a local streetlamp switch maker, the company won bids for state-run projects and saw a sudden huge increase in sales. This raised suspicions that the family used Cho’s influence to get contracts awarded to the company.
It is widely predicted the prosecution will soon summon Chung for questioning over the suspicious investment and her alleged role in her daughter’s controversial academic career.