South Korean Minister Steps Down After Months-Long Protests

President Moon Jae-in accepted former-Justice Minister Cho Kuk’s (above) resignation on October 14. (Flickr)

A month after taking office, South Korean Justice Minister Cho Kuk resigned on October 14, citing the fact that he had accomplished his goal in reforming the country’s prosecution and would like to devote more time to supporting his besieged family.

Protests opposing the justice minister’s appointment began as early as August when current President Moon Jae-in nominated Cho for the position. The act led to investigations of the then-nominee’s background, which resulted in several allegations that claimed Cho’s wife, a university professor named Chung Kyung-sim, forged a school award to help her daughter gain admission at a medical school in Busan. The state prosecution probe extended into Cho’s other relatives over allegations of financial fraud and similar cases of admissions forgery. 

Protestors calling for Cho’s resignation and supporters carried “Reform the Prosecution” signs and filled the streets of the nation’s capital in response to the allegations. Thousands from each side took turns marching and performing candlelit demonstrations, protesting for four straight weekends before Cho stepped down on October 14. Alumni of both Cho and his daughter’s universities respectively held their own candlelit demonstrations opposing the minister’s appointment. 

Cho revealed that his primary reasons for stepping down had been both the completion of a second set of prosecution reforms as well as his wish to relieve political pressure on Moon’s administration. The reforms themselves are meant to curb prosecutors’ powers, which include the ability to both indict and seek warrants for criminal suspects, take control over police investigations, and directly initiate criminal investigations. Experts had often criticized these prosecution powers for serving as a manipulative, political tool for past conservative administrations.

Moon apologized in a meeting with senior advisors for “creating a lot of conflict between the people,” at the same time praising Cho for his perseverance and “passion for prosecutorial reform.”

The president’s decision to appoint Cho on September 6 despite opposition from the major parties dealt a severe blow to his administration’s public image. Local pollster Realtime conducted a survey that found that 56.1 percent opposed the president’s liberal administration, an all-time high. Moon’s declining approval ratings may spell danger for the ruling party in light of upcoming parliamentary elections in April 2020.

After six investigative interviews, Cho’s wife, in fear of an arrest warrant, submitted medical records of a possible brain tumor to prosecutors a day after her husband’s resignation. However, prosecutors revealed that an orthopedist had completed the paperwork and that the documents do not even list the physician in charge, nor a hospital. 

The former justice minister applied for reinstatement to his previous job as a law professor at Seoul National University about 20 minutes after the president accepted his resignation. The university accepted Cho the next day without delay, in compliance with the school’s leave-of-absence policy for professors. An online poll that the university itself conducted revealed that of the 2,041 students who participated, 96 percent opposed his reinstatement.