Disgraced ex-minister's daughter says she feels proud, qualified as a doctor

The high-profile daughter of the disgraced former Justice Minister Cho Kuk has said she does not feel ashamed of herself at all despite her parents' conviction for forging her academic documents.

Cho Min, who has made headlines over suspicions that her parents fabricated various academic documents to get her into a medical school, made the remarks in a YouTube interview on Monday, three days after her father was given a two-year prison sentence on multiple charges, including those related to her.

Last Friday, the Seoul Central District Court found the former minister guilty of falsifying documents to help Cho Min and her younger brother receive academic favors, including university and graduate school admissions.

The former minister's wife, Chung Kyung-sim, who is already serving a four-year sentence since 2020, was given another year in prison on related charges.

The 28-year-old Cho Min graduated from Pusan National University's medical school in the southern port city of Busan in 2021 but the school decided to revoke her admission last year following her mother's conviction.

In the YouTube interview, the younger Cho revealed her face for the first time since her family's scandal broke out in 2019, while complaining that her family has been harshly dealt with by the prosecution, media and political circles for the past four years.

The daughter went on to say that she has been told by some senior doctors that she has enough qualifications as a doctor, apparently having in mind the possibility of her doctor's license being revoked.

"Watching my father receiving a prison sentence, I pondered 'Am I dishonest?' I've lived proudly and without shame. So I've decided to live proudly and openly as Cho Min, not as a daughter of Cho Kuk, from now on," she said.

She then added that she intends to use her medical knowledge only for medical service until all trials involving her are over. (Yonhap)