1. Cho Kuk is a South Korean politician who served as a member of the National Assembly of South Korea from May to December 2024, when he lost his seat following the Supreme Court of Korea's decision to uphold his two-year prison sentence for document falsification.
Cho Kuk is the founder of the Rebuilding Korea Party.
Cho Kuk was appointed Minister of Justice, a position he held from September 2019 until his resignation on 14 October 2019 due to his involvement in a series of controversies, including allegations of corruption surrounding his family's business activities.
In 2023, Cho Kuk was convicted of falsifying documents in connection with his children's college admissions and sentenced to two years in prison.
Cho Kuk was born in Seo District, Busan, South Korea in 1965, as the eldest son of the ex-Director of Ungdong Middle School Cho Kuk Byun-hyun, and his wife and the current Director of the institute, Park Jung-sook.
Cho Kuk attended Gudeok Elementary School in Busan, then moved to Seoul and studied at Daesin Middle School.
Cho Kuk was a visiting scholar at the University of Oxford and University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.
Cho Kuk showed interest in politics at the end of the 1980s, while studying at university.
Cho Kuk was detained due to his activities, under breach of the National Security Act, and declared a prisoner of conscience by Amnesty International.
Since the 2000s, Cho Kuk has been involved in various activities related to human rights and democracy.
Cho Kuk was a member of the People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Committee of Determination of Punishment in Supreme Court, National Human Rights Commission, and the other various organisations.
Cho Kuk has never held any elected position, even though the former Democratic Party and its successor Democratic Unionist Party suggested that he run for a position as member of the National Assembly in Bundang 2nd constituency.
Cho Kuk did not run for mayorship of Busan in 2018, despite public expectations.
On 11 May 2017, the day after Moon Jae-in officially assumed the office of president, Cho Kuk was appointed Senior Secretary to the President for Civil Affairs.
Cho Kuk was one of several non-prosecutors appointed to the position.
Cho Kuk promised a clear investigation of the 2016 South Korean political scandal.
On 31 December 2018, Cho Kuk attended the House Steering Committee of the National Assembly.
On 9 August 2019, Cho Kuk was nominated for the position of Minister of Justice replacing Park Sang-ki, by President Moon.
Cho Kuk quoted General Yi Sun-sin and promised political reform.
Cho Kuk is often regarded as liberal, or a left-wing politician.
For issues related to the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions, Cho Kuk announced that the government is not only for KCTU and impossible to satisfy their demands.
Cho Kuk called the declaration of martial law by President Yoon Suk Yeol on 3 December 2024 "illegal" and said it met conditions for the impeachment of Yoon and Kim Yong-hyun, the minister of national defense.
In July 2013, Song Pyung-in of The Dong-A Ilbo and a conservative commentator Byun Hee-jae had mentioned that Cho Kuk plagiarized several theses written by Japanese scholars during his studies at Seoul National University in 1989.
Cho Kuk replied that he underwent some problems with citations, although "unsure because it was long time ago", but then he apologized for it.
Cho Kuk faced another criticisms regarding tax delinquencies related to the Ungdong Institute.
Cho Kuk accepted that this was true, and made all necessary payments.
Furthermore, three other business associates of Cho Kuk's family, including a Cho Kuk relative, had already left the country before the ban was officially placed on them.
On 31 December 2019, Cho Kuk was indicted on 12 charges over his role in his children's college admissions, including for bribery and corruption, but was not detained.
In January 2020, Cho Kuk was removed from his teaching position at Seoul National University.
In February 2023, Cho Kuk was sentenced to two years prison for falsely submitting documents attesting that his son had completed an internship and forging his daughter's academic credentials.
On 12 December 2024, Cho Kuk's conviction was upheld by the Supreme Court of Korea, paving the way for his losing his seat in the National Assembly and his eligibility to run in presidential elections until 2029.
On 10 September 2019, shortly after Cho Kuk's nomination hearing, his wife, Chung Kyung-sim, was officially indicted for forgery of a document by the prosecutor's office.
Cho Kuk did not add that he would withdraw or resign from the nomination.