The Supreme Court has finalized a suspended prison sentence for former Unification Minister Cho Myoung-gyon (68), who was indicted over the so-called 'blacklist' allegations involving the forced resignation of public institution heads appointed by the previous administration during the Moon Jae-in government.

The Supreme Court's First Division (Justice Shin Sook-hee presiding) upheld the lower court's ruling today (July 16), sentencing Cho to six months in prison, suspended for one year, on charges of abuse of power.

This Supreme Court decision comes three years and six months after Cho was indicted by the prosecution.

Cho was indicted without detention in January 2023 on charges of pressuring Son Kwang-joo, then-head of the Korea Hana Foundation (formerly the North Korean Refugees Foundation), to resign in July 2017, when Son still had about one year left in his term. Cho allegedly used then-Vice Minister of Unification Chun Hae-sung and others to carry out the pressure.

The prosecution concluded that when Son refused, Cho personally demanded his resignation, telling him to "resign quietly."

While Cho was acquitted in the first trial, the verdict was overturned in the second trial.

The appellate court determined that Cho had demanded Son's resignation through former Vice Minister Chun and others, and furthermore, had personally requested that Son submit his resignation.

While the first trial suggested the possibility that the vice minister and the director in charge had pressured Son to resign on their own initiative, the second trial ruled that they could not have proceeded with such a process independently without Cho's approval or tacit consent.

Furthermore, unlike the first trial, which concluded that the demand for resignation did not fall under the 'official duties' of the minister and therefore did not constitute abuse of power, the second trial ruled that the Unification Minister at the time held general authority over the personnel affairs of the Korea Hana Foundation's chairman.

(Photo: Yonhap News)