Chung filed complaint against Dongguk University officials including former president Choi

Police declined to refer case; prosecutors returned file, closing investigation

Former Dongguk University professor Chung Kyung-shim and former Dongguk University President Choi Sung-hae. [Yonhap]
Former Dongguk University professor Chung Kyung-shim and former Dongguk University President Choi Sung-hae. [Yonhap]

An investigation into former Dongguk University professor Chung Kyung-shim's complaint that university officials destroyed evidence related to a commendation certificate issued to her daughter, Jo Min, has been closed with no charges filed. Prosecutors found no grounds to overturn the police's decision not to refer the case and returned the file.

The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office's Criminal Division 3 returned the case file to the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency on Wednesday, covering eight university officials — including former President Choi Sung-hae, a former head of administrative support and a former general affairs and welfare team leader — on charges of evidence destruction, violations of the Public Records Management Act and obstruction of official duties by deception.

Returning a case file is the procedural step by which prosecutors, after reviewing a case the police declined to refer, determine that no further investigation or indictment is warranted and send the records back to police. While it does not constitute a formal disposition, it is understood as the administrative conclusion of the investigation, signaling that prosecutors accept and agree with the police's decision not to refer. The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency, which handled the investigation, declined in July to refer the case against Choi and the seven other officials on grounds of insufficient evidence and forwarded the file to prosecutors. Chung did not file an objection to the police's decision.

The case traces back to the so-called "Cho Kuk affair" of 2019, when questions arose over whether Jo Min had received a forged commendation certificate bearing the name of the Dongguk University president. After Cho Kuk — now director of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute — was nominated as justice minister candidate in August 2019, a wave of allegations emerged surrounding his family, including admissions fraud involving his children and a private equity fund. Prosecutors launched sweeping search-and-seizure operations that same month. A central issue was whether Chung, then a Dongguk University professor and Cho's wife, had forged a commendation certificate in the university president's name for use in Jo's graduate school admissions.

Jo's side maintained at the time that she had volunteered to teach English to middle and high school students at Dongguk University and had legitimately received the commendation. Choi, then the university's president, rebuffed that account, saying he had never issued or approved a commendation certificate for Jo. Prosecutors indicted Chung on charges of forging a private document on Sept. 6, 2019 — the day of Cho's National Assembly confirmation hearing — and later brought additional charges related to admissions fraud after further investigation.

Courts found that Chung had forged the commendation certificate in the university president's name for use in Jo's admissions. Chung was sentenced to four years in prison, confirmed by the Supreme Court in 2022, on charges including admissions fraud involving her children and allegations related to a private equity fund. All charges related to her children's admissions fraud were upheld. The Supreme Court also recognized the evidentiary validity of a PC found in a lecturer's lounge at Dongguk University, which contained key evidence in the forgery case. Chung was released on parole in September 2023.

Former Dongguk University President Choi Sung-hae and Cho Kuk, director of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute. [Yonhap]
Former Dongguk University President Choi Sung-hae and Cho Kuk, director of the Rebuilding Korea Party's policy research institute. [Yonhap]

Chung, whose conviction in the commendation certificate case is final, filed a complaint last September against Choi and seven other Dongguk University officials, alleging they had destroyed relevant materials in the early stages of the 2019 investigation. She alleged that between Aug. 27 and Aug. 30, 2019 — shortly after prosecutors launched their investigation — the officials disposed of award-related documents, including approval records from the university's language education center connected to Jo's commendation certificate, in violation of laws on evidence destruction and public records management.

Chung also alleged in her complaint that Dongguk University sent a false official communication to the Ministry of Education, constituting obstruction of official duties by deception. She claimed that when the ministry on Aug. 30, 2019 requested records of Jo's history of receiving presidential commendations from 2006 to 2016, the university falsely responded that the records could not be confirmed due to their absence.

Police, however, found no evidence to support Chung's claims. Choi and the other officials denied ever discussing the disposal of award-related materials. Police also concluded there was insufficient objective evidence to establish that an internal meeting had been held to discuss destroying evidence, and that no proof could be found that the award-related materials alleged to have been destroyed had ever existed.

Police accordingly declined in July to refer Choi and the seven other officials on grounds of insufficient evidence. Prosecutors, after receiving the case file, likewise found no basis to depart from the police's assessment and returned the records, closing the investigation with no charges.

A separate case concerning testimony Choi gave during Chung's criminal trial is still ongoing. Police recently referred Choi to prosecutors on perjury charges, finding that some of his courtroom testimony warranted such charges. For testimony related to the core facts of the commendation certificate case, however, police determined there were no grounds for charges.


yg@heraldcorp.com