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Rep. Choi Kang-wook of the Democratic Party of Korea, who was charged with writing a false internship confirmation letter to the son of former minister Cho Kuk, was sentenced to death as a member of the National Assembly after the first trial.

Rep. Choi said he would appeal to the Supreme Court.



This is reporter Han So-hee.



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Rep. Choi Kang-wook, who was handed over to trial in October 2017 while he was a lawyer, was charged with writing a false internship confirmation letter to the son of the then chief civil affairs officer of the Blue House.



As in the first instance, the court of appeals sentenced him to 8 months in prison and 2 years of probation.



Rep. Choi wrote a letter of confirmation to Jo, the son of former minister Cho, that he assisted with document organization for a total of 16 hours twice a week for 9 months, and Mr. Cho wrote this down in his application for admission to two graduate schools and was accepted. The second trial court also found the confirmation to be false.



The court said that it was not persuasive for the party who issued the confirmation to overturn the statement, saying that Choi's statement about Cho's internship hours was changed through the prosecution and the first and second trial trials.



He also explained the reason for the sentencing, saying that the sentence of the first trial did not go beyond a reasonable range considering the social atmosphere that emphasizes equality of opportunity and fairness.



Rep. Choi said he would appeal to the Supreme Court.



[Choi Kang-wook / Member of the Democratic Party of Korea: It is difficult to understand why this is not the result of a targeted investigation, given that it did not go through a legal process and the issue of equity with other parties.]



Rep. Choi was also indicted on charges of publicizing false information by stating that the allegation of falsely filling out the intern confirmation letter on an internet broadcast during the 2020 general election was not true, and was sentenced to a fine of 800,000 won in the first trial.



If the sentence is confirmed by the Supreme Court today (20th), Rep. Choi will lose his seat as a member of the National Assembly.



(Video coverage: Seol Min-hwan, video editing: Choi Eun-jin)