Prosecutors are demanding a five-year prison sentence for former justice minister Cho Kuk on charges related to irregularities in his children’s university admissions and power abuse in a case involving a former deputy mayor of Busan.

In a final hearing held at the Seoul Central District Court on Friday, the prosecution asked the court to sentence Cho to five years behind bars, impose a 12 million won fine and a forfeiture of six million won.

Cho was referred to the prosecution in December 2019 for falsifying official documents to bolster his children’s university entry as well as for an allegedly undeserved scholarship that his daughter received.

He was then indicted the following month in a separate case over allegations that he abused his power as presidential secretary for civil affairs during the former Moon Jae-in administration when he helped quash an official review into former vice mayor of Busan Yoo Jae-soo.

Cho's wife, Chung Kyung-sim, a former professor at Dongyang University, was earlier sentenced by the Supreme Court to a four-year prison term on charges of academic fraud linked to their daughter’s college admissions.