The trial of so-called "star instructor" Cho Jeong-sik, accused of illicitly trading test items with an incumbent teacher who has experience writing College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT) mock exam questions, begins on the 3rd.
At 10:30 a.m. that day, Park Kang-gyun, Criminal Division 4 single judge at the Seoul Central District Court, will hold the first pretrial hearing for Cho and others, who are accused of violating the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, among other charges.
A pretrial hearing is a procedure to confirm the positions of the defendant and the prosecution and discuss plans for proof before full-fledged proceedings. The defendant is not required to appear in court.
Cho is accused of instructing Person A in Dec. 2020 to obtain English questions from an incumbent teacher for use in class. Person A belonged to a company that produced teaching materials for Cho's lectures.
Person A was found to have provided 83.51 million won a total of 67 times to two current and former teachers in return for producing English questions.
Under the Improper Solicitation and Graft Act, private school teachers may not receive or give money or valuables of 1 million won per occasion or 3 million won per year or more to a single person, regardless of their duties.
Cho was also charged with instigating breach of duty for telling Person A in Jan. 2021, in substance, "The EBS CSAT special lecture textbook file is before official sale. Please obtain it in advance through incumbent teacher Person B." In response, Person B was found to have sent the textbook file for the "2022 CSAT special lecture English reading practice," which was before publication, to Cho and Person A.
Earlier, the Korean National Police Agency National Office of Investigation (NOI) sent to prosecutors 72 incumbent teachers, three private education companies, and 11 instructors implicated in the so-called "private education cartel" in April.