Anchor: Prosecutors say they have acquired evidence that Justice Minister Cho Kuk's wife, Chung Kyung-shim, fabricated an award certificate from Dongyang University to help their daughter get into medical school. As allegations continue to swirl, Chung has urged local media to refrain from reporting on speculation about her family.
Choi You Sun has the details.

Report: The Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office has obtained computer files suggesting Justice Minister Cho Kuk's wife Chung Kyung-shim, a Dongyang University professor, forged an award certificate to help their daughter enter medical school.

Files from Chung's office computer include a scanned file of an actual president's award certificate from Dongyang University that her son received along with an image file of the certificate's cutout, a text file of the certificate and a final copy awarded to her daughter.

Prosecutors suspect Chung attached the cutout of the president's name and seal from her son's certificate which was given in 2012 onto a forged certificate she created for her daughter in 2013, based on their identical characteristics.

September seventh, 2012 is when the award was presented to her daughter, as stated on the certificate, but the files on Chung's computer were reportedly created in 2013, around the time her daughter was preparing to apply to Pusan National University's medical school.

When prosecutors previously requested the Cho family to submit the original copy of the daughter's certificate, they only turned in a colored photo of the certificate, saying they were searching for the original.

A Dongyang University employee who had worked with Chung in 2012 told KBS that authentic copies issued by the school carried the president's seal marked with ink and that the original would prove whether the certificate was fake.

In a separate investigation into the Cho family's dubious investments in a private equity fund, prosecutors arrested the minister's relative over related allegations and questioned the head of WMF, a company invested in by fund operator Co-Link Private Equity.

The relative in question allegedly acquired WMF without capital and rigged stock prices, and the firm is believed to have paid Chung 14 million won in "consulting fees."

Chung, who was indicted on charges of forging private documents, posted a message on her social network account asking the media to stop reporting on speculations about her family. She said the truth will be revealed during trial. 
Choi You Sun, KBS World Radio News.