Former Minister Cho Kuk defined the character of his memoir, The Fatherland Time, as "a record, not a politics."

He also explained, “I accurately recorded what happened after the appointment of the Minister of Justice, and at the same time gave the minimum explanation and clarification that I had not been able to do before.”

As many people have already expressed their opinions on whether the content of 《Time for the Fatherland》 is historical truth or an unreasonable distortion, I will not add to the story.

Instead, in this article, I would like to focus on things that are not in 《Time of the Fatherland》.

If there are any suspicions that the former Minister Cho Kuk did not mention in this book, which covers 317 pages in detail about the prosecution's intentions as well as the suspicions related to himself, his wife and children, his mother and younger brother, it cannot but be regarded as a deliberate omission, not a mistake or misunderstanding because there is no



What's Not in Homeland Time 1 - A description of the charges convicted


Among the things not mentioned in 《Time for the Fatherland》, the first to be mentioned are the charges convicted in the first trial. Unlike former Minister Cho Kuk, who actively clarified other allegations, his memoirs do not mention much about the charges in which his wife, Professor Kyung-shim Jeong, was convicted in the first trial. For a detailed explanation of how Professor Kyung-shim Jeong and others forged a citation from Dongyang University in the name of his daughter Jo Min, 'spoiled the specifications' with a professor at Dankook University, and wrote false information about her daughter's KIST and Gongju internship, this book can't be found in They are only making a general rebuttal to the effect that 'it is unfair to impose criminal standards on high school students' internships'. The charge of trading stocks using undisclosed information, which played the most decisive role in Professor Jeong Kyung-shim's sentence of four years in prison, was also not mentioned in Time of the Fatherland. There is also no specific explanation for the allegation that Rep. Choi Kang-wook issued a false internship certificate to the son of former Minister Cho Kuk. This is also a charge that was found guilty in the first trial of Rep. Choi Kang-wook.



There may be an objection that I could not explain in detail because it was my wife and not myself. However, in this book, former Minister Cho Kuk refutes the allegations related to the Ungdong Academy in which the mother, the deceased father, and the younger brother were involved, explaining in a very detailed and blunt manner. It is not convincing to explain to Professor Kyung-shim Jeong that he was silent on most of the charges convicted in the first trial because it was not his job. Former Minister Cho Kuk says in the book that he will not go into details because "the appeal trial is open and a fierce fight is in progress", and on some of the charges, he was charged with an accomplice and was arguing in the first trial, but in the same way, he is arguing in the first trial. He devotes a lot of space to explaining the allegations of Yoo Jae-soo's refusal to inspect and the allegations that are already being acquitted in the first trial and are contested in the appeals trial.



In the end, in this book, former Minister Cho Kuk actively explains only the allegations in which he has already been acquitted in the first trial or has already declared his innocence in the first trial, and has already been convicted in the first trial or the trial process. It can be seen that he is silent on allegations that have not yet revealed his position. He stated his position through the book, but did not reveal his position on the allegations that could be refuted by a court ruling later. It may be said that former Minister Cho Kuk's refusal to testify in court was exercising his legal right, but the reason why he did not specifically explain the passages that the court found to be lies when he said that he published a memoir to reveal the historical truth is hard to comprehend


What is not in 《Time for the Fatherland》 2 - Reflection on the obvious lies


There is another thing that former Minister Cho Kuk did not say in this book.

Former Minister Cho Kuk did not give any explanation as to how he publicly spread false information to the media and the public ahead of the National Assembly personnel hearing.

Some people may question whether it can be concluded that former Minister Cho Kuk spread false information in a situation where the Supreme Court has not yet made a final decision.

However, there is a person who clearly proved in court that former Minister Cho Kuk sent a text message in the form of a press release to reporters ahead of the personnel hearing in August 2019 and actively disseminated false information.

Not a journalist, not a prosecutor.

Professor Kyung-shim Jeong, wife of former Minister Cho Kuk.



On August 19, 2019, former Minister Cho Kuk said that Kolink PE, which manages a private equity fund in which his family invested a large amount of money, is not related to his 5th cousin, Jo Beom-dong, and the effective owner of Kolink PE is Jo Beom-dong. Cira distributed a press release text message to reporters stating that the media reports were not true.

At that time, I will copy the relevant part of the text message sent by the preparatory team for the hearing of the candidate for the Minister of Justice Cho Kuk at the time.


[Send Web]


[We will inform you from the personnel hearing preparation team (Aug. 19.)]


1. The allegation that "the real owner of Blue Core Value Up No. 1 Fund is a relative of Candidate Cho" is not true.


– Mr. Jo has a close relationship with the CEO of Kolink PE Co., Ltd., so there is only one fact that he was involved in the signing of a mou with China related to investment in funds other than the above fund (this mou was also canceled after the fact).


– It is true that the spouse of the candidate invested in the Blue Core Value Up No. 1 private equity fund through the introduction of Mr. Jo, but it has been confirmed that Mr. Jo was not involved in any fund operation, including the selection of investment targets.


However, during the trial of Professor Kyung-shim Jeong, this was revealed to be a clear falsehood. Professor Kyung-shim Jeong's side admitted in court that Beom-dong Jo invested money in knowing that he was actually operating it in Corlink. Text messages exchanged between Mr. Jo Beom-dong and Professor Kyung-shim Jeong and a recording of the conversation between the two were also revealed in court. The press release from former Minister Cho Kuk was completely false, saying that Mr. Jo Beom-dong was "confirmed that he was not involved in any fund operation, including the selection of investment targets."



What was the reason why the personnel hearing preparation team distributed such complete false information as a press release? There are two possibilities. One was that the former Minister Cho Kuk was completely unaware that his fifth-degree nephew was the owner of a private equity fund in which his wife invested a significant portion of his family's wealth. This is a case in which a press release containing false facts was distributed because he lied to 'Jo Beom-dong has nothing to do with the fund management company'. The other is a case in which former Minister Cho Kuk knew that Mr. Jo Bum-dong was the de facto representative of a private equity fund management company, but he intentionally lied to hide the fact that his relatives were involved in the controversial private equity fund management. . I'll leave it to each individual to decide which of the two cases is more common sense.



However, in either case, the fact remains that former Minister Cho Kuk used a public organization called the Personnel Hearing Preparation Team to spread false information.

As long as the lies are clearly revealed, former Minister Cho Kuk is responsible for explaining why he publicly spread false information as a candidate for the Minister of Justice.

However, no explanation could be found in the 317-page memoir 《Time of the Fatherland》.



What is missing in 《Homeland Time》 3 - Promise not kept


The third thing missing from 《Time for the Fatherland》 is an explanation of the promise that was not kept. Former Minister Cho Kuk publicly made several promises ahead of the personnel hearing as public criticism grew stronger. The most widely known was the promise to return all of Woongdong Academy's property to society. On August 23, 2019, just before the personnel hearing, former Minister Cho Kuk said, "Including my mother (Park Jung-sook), who is the president of Ungdong Academy, resigning from the board of directors, all of my family will give up all titles and authority related to Ungdong Academy. In the future, we will take necessary measures, such as consulting with related organizations and holding a board of directors, so that Woongdong Academy can be operated by the state or public interest foundations rather than by individuals.” In addition, he added, "We will not claim any rights in relation to the property contributed by our family when relocating to a public interest foundation."



However, last year, a year after the promise, several articles were reported that the mother of former Minister Cho Kuk still maintained the position of chairman of Ungdong Academy. Even after nearly two years have passed, there is still no news that the family of former Minister Cho Kuk has completely withdrawn from the Board of Directors of Ungdong Academy, or that Ungdong Academy has been transferred to a public interest foundation. However, the reason for not fulfilling the promise is also not explained in 《Time for the Fatherland》. We may not be able to keep our promises due to unavoidable circumstances. However, what is the reason for omitting mention of the promises he did not keep even though he would explain in detail the incidents and allegations that arose after the appointment of the minister?



(Former Minister Cho Kuk once professed during the 2019 personnel hearing that his son, who had delayed enlistment five times, would enlist in 2020 as soon as he completes his graduate studies. The son of former Minister Cho Kuk did not enlist in 2020. 2021 As it is known that he has not enlisted in the military until nearly half a year later, this promise of former Minister Cho Kuk has also been not kept strictly speaking. However, in 2020, it was not easy to continue studying due to Corona 19, and former Minister Cho Kuk also As he said in November 2020, "I will enlist when my son graduates from graduate school," I do not want to conclude that he has broken his promise at this point.)


The need for things that are not in 《Homeland Time》


It is the right of former Minister Cho Kuk to publish a book by summarizing his position on past events.

However, if "Time of the Fatherland" was written to correct the distorted history and leave a true "record", it is difficult to justify the reason for not explaining the hard-to-answer allegations, outright lies, and promises that were not kept.

This is because the things that are not in 《Time of the Fatherland》 are also essential to write a complete history of 'Time of the Fatherland'.

Rather, the things that former Minister Cho Kuk did not say in 《Time for the Fatherland》 might be the things people wanted to hear through the mouth of the country.