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Wife of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk granted early release from prison

Published: 20 Sep. 2023, 20:10 Updated: 20 Sep. 2023, 20:13

Chung Kyung-sim walks into the Seoul Central District Court in Seocho-dong, Seoul, to attend her trial on Dec. 23 2020. [YONHAP]

Chung Kyung-sim, the wife of former Justice Minister Cho Kuk, will be released from prison, where she has been incarcerated since December 2020.

On Wednesday, the Justice Ministry announced that the former professor will be released early from her four-year sentence on Sept. 27.

Chung was arrested for involvement in admission fraud, assisting her daughter Cho Min to get into a university and later to medical school.

The crimes committed included the forgery of her university president's citation and a false internship certificate among others.

In February, in a separate case, Cho was sentenced by the court to serve one year in prison as she was convicted of committing another admission fraud. This time it involved her son Cho Won.

Former Justice Minister Cho Kuk was also sentenced to two years, but the court did not order his immediate arrest, citing no flight risk.

Both Chung and her husband Cho Kuk have appealed the case and are currently on trial.

The prosecutor's office recently indicted their daughter, Cho Min.

Korea University and Pusan National University revoked her admission, and her medical license application was rejected by the government.

Cho Min had never taken the Medical Education Eligibility Test when she applied for medical school.

Former Democratic Party Rep. Choe Kang-wook delivers a speech following the final verdict on his case by the Supreme Court in Seoul on Monday. [YONHAP]

On Monday, Democratic Party Representative Choe Kang-wook faced the removal of his lawmaker title following the Supreme Court's definitive ruling on his involvement in the admission fraud scheme orchestrated by Chung and her husband, Cho Kuk.

The court upheld the prior sentence of eight months in prison with a two-year probation for Choe, who had been found guilty of fabricating a false document related to Cho Kuk's son, Cho Won, falsely claiming an internship at the law firm where he worked.

Witnesses from the case testified that Cho Won had never actually worked at the law firm as an intern.

BY LEE HO-JEONG [[email protected]]