Disgraced ex-justice minister's daughter launches beauty brand

Cho Min, the daughter of former Justice Minister and the current Rebuilding Korea Party Chairman Rep. Cho Kuk, leaves the Seoul Central District Court, March 22, after being ordered to pay a fine of 10 million won ($7,140) over university admission fraud charges. Yonhap

Cho Min, the daughter of former Justice Minister and the current Rebuilding Korea Party Chairman Rep. Cho Kuk, leaves the Seoul Central District Court, March 22, after being ordered to pay a fine of 10 million won ($7,140) over university admission fraud charges. Yonhap

By Kwak Yeon-soo

Cho Min, the daughter of former Justice Minister and current Rebuilding Korea Party Chairman Rep. Cho Kuk, launched a beauty brand called CEROLABS, according to reports.

Cho has been embroiled in academic fraud scandals, including fabricating various documents to get into Korea University and medical school at Pusan National University. A court ruling led her to lose admission to both schools.

She launched a YouTube channel in May last year and, since then, garnered over 410,000 subscribers as of Tuesday.

In March, she was ordered to pay a fine of 10 million won ($7,140) by the Seoul Central District Court on charges of university admission fraud.

She was indicted on charges of document forgery and obstruction of business for allegedly collaborating with her mother to submit falsified documents to Pusan National University's Graduate School of Medicine in June 2014. She appealed, and the first appeal hearing is scheduled for Dec. 18.

Separately, the final sentencing hearing for Rep. Cho will be held on Dec. 12, according to the Supreme Court. If the two-year jail term handed by lower courts is confirmed, he will lose his parliamentary seat as well as his eligibility to run for public office.

The lawmaker faces multiple charges, including using illicit means to get his children into prestigious schools, for which his wife was handed four years in jail in 2022.

The allegations surrounding Rep. Cho and his family first surfaced in 2019 after he was named justice minister under former President Moon Jae-in's administration. He served only 35 days as the minister before stepping down due to the scandals.

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