You Have Been Defended [EN]: Chapter 91

You’ve Been Defended – Episode 91

[It has been reported that Cho Hyun-seok is denying the charges until the end. Next news. Last March……]

The screen quickly changed, and the next news segment began.

Standing in front of the television in a daze for a moment, I quickly regained my senses and went to my laptop.

The ring was visible in the photos taken when he arrived at the prosecutor’s office. It should be verifiable in the online news photos.

I chose the photos that showed the ring most clearly from the images on the portal.

Of course, I couldn’t accurately identify the letters engraved on the ring in those photos, but I was at least sure that what I saw before was correct.

It’s the same design.

Plus, a height of over 190 centimeters (approximately 6’3″) and a sturdy physique.

Now, even Cho Hyun-seok is suspected of providing sexual favors to the Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs.

Considering the number of women appearing in that video, it made even more sense.

This also means that Jung Young-joon doesn’t need to risk being seen by reporters by going to Yangjin F&B headquarters to check personnel records.

‘What time is it?’

6:35.

He was supposed to arrive in front of the headquarters at 6:30.

Has he already entered the headquarters?

I checked my phone.

There was no contact.

Hasn’t entered yet?

First, I called Kang Min-jae.

-Yes, Attorney.

“Attorney Kang, where are you now?”

-I’m in the underground parking lot of the headquarters now. But something is strange.

“What is it?”

-There are reporters spread out here too. I’m wondering what to do now. I’m trying to call the security team again to find another route, but,

“Don’t look for another route, just come back.”

-Yes?

“There’s no need to check personnel records.”

I said, scrolling the mouse wheel while displaying the data on Cho Hyun-seok on the screen.

-Why?

“I found the cameraman.”

-Really? How? Who is it?

“Come back and talk. Come to the office with Jung Young-joon.”

-Ah, yes. I understand. I’ll go to the office now.

It was an hour later that they returned to the office.

I had arrived in advance and was looking into the Ji Myung-ho sex bribery case and the released information on Cho Hyun-seok in detail.

“Attorney.”

Behind Kang Min-jae, Jung Young-joon’s figure appeared, covering his face with sunglasses and a mask.

Fortunately, my call had been timely, so he didn’t appear to have been harassed by reporters.

“It took a little time to get out without being caught by the reporters.”

“The reporters don’t know at all that Jung Young-joon came to the headquarters?”

“That’s right. My car is also new, and the license plate is unfamiliar. Well, they probably thought it was an employee’s car. Instead, I pretended to park for a while because I thought there would be guys chasing me if the car entered and immediately left… Anyway, I heard you identified the cameraman. Who is it?”

Jung Young-joon took off his sunglasses and mask and looked at me with trembling eyes.

Instead of answering, I turned the laptop screen I was looking at towards them.

They quickly approached the monitor like moths to a flame.

After a brief moment of identifying the person in the photo, the two men widened their eyes and opened their mouths as if on cue.

“Are you talking about Cho Hyun-seok, Attorney? Are you saying that Cho Hyun-seok is the cameraman who filmed my video?”

“Cho Hyun-seok’s official height is 193 centimeters (approximately 6’4″). He was a basketball player. He is suspected of providing entertainment and women from the nightlife scene to Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Ji Myung-ho and several other high-ranking officials, and now they are checking whether he has provided sexual favors to other high-ranking figures in the political and business world besides them.”

“…If it’s Cho Hyun-seok, he would have been able to easily ‘manage’ the many women in the video, though it’s not appropriate to use such an expression for a person.”

“That’s right. And above all, this ring. It’s decisive. It’s Cho Hyun-seok.”

I zoomed in on the ring and showed it to them.

The ring in the news photo was a little clearer than the video that the National Intelligence Service had restored.

While they were on their way, I asked the National Intelligence Service to confirm whether the ring in the reporter’s photo and the ring in the video were the same.

He sent me an image of the two photos with reduced transparency, overlapping each other at matching angles.

I still don’t know what the letters are, but the positions of the capital letters match exactly.

Not only that.

Several of his staged photos posted on Cho Hyun-seok’s Cyworld [a popular South Korean social networking site] further convinced me that he was the cameraman.

It was because it was written in the form of a line of text that was popular at the time, under a black and white photo taken with a lot of posing.

[Shinsadong [a district in Seoul known for its trendy shops and restaurants] is still bustling at 4 a.m.

People staggering from drunkenness and catching taxis-

They will all return home with their own loneliness.

But I can’t go.

Because I still have work to do here…

Photo by. Hyun-woo

Camera. Panatech 718Q]

Panatech 718Q.

That’s the model name of the camera he used when filming Jung Young-joon’s video.

It was a serious matter, but I couldn’t help but laugh when I first saw that post.

It makes me realize that I’m living in 2009.

A typical Cyworld-style phrase.

It would end as a simple embarrassing history for an ordinary person, but Cho Hyun-seok’s only provokes cynicism.

For a human being like Cho Hyun-seok, who exploits people and profits from it, to talk about loneliness.

It was really pathetic.

“Cho Hyun-seok, how…….”

Jung Young-joon slumped down on the sofa.

With a blank face, he stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, then pressed his chest with his hands.

“Then, are you saying that Secretary Kim Eun-ha-soo and Cho Hyun-seok are having an affair?”

“I can’t confirm that yet, but our video expert analyzed the reporter’s photos and said that the first capital letter seems to be N. It’s a letter that can’t be found in Kim Eun-ha-soo’s name.”

“If it’s a surname with N, it’s Na or Noh…….”

Kang Min-jae quickly rattled off, but I didn’t think it was very meaningful to infer the name right now.

We’ve been clinging to the length of the lettering and searching for suspects.

As a result, the person we thought was the closest was Secretary Kim Eun-ha-soo’s couple, but unfortunately, that inference was wrong.

Now it has been confirmed that Cho Hyun-seok is the cameraman.

This means that we can solve the case in a different direction.

“Cho Hyun-seok is currently suspected of providing sexual favors not only to Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs Ji Myung-ho but also to many other figures in the political and business world. Perhaps executives of large corporations or family members of owners were also among the targets.”

“Yes.”

“Have you ever heard that Cho Hyun-seok is related to the Yangjin Group?”

Jung Young-joon nodded once without much hesitation at my question.

“Yes.”

“……Is, is that really true? Then, have you heard how Cho Hyun-seok is related to the Yangjin Group?”

Kang Min-jae was very excited by the refreshing answer from Jung Young-joon for the first time in a while.

Jung Young-joon seemed a little embarrassed by his sudden increase in humanity, but soon calmly recalled.

“No, to be exact, I didn’t hear that there was a connection… I met him. Is it a bit much to say I met him? I think it’s better to say I greeted him.”

“Then, perhaps the video was taken that day,”

“That’s not it. There was an event at Hotel Riverview, one of Yangjin’s affiliates, that day. Most of our employees participated.”

“Did Cho Hyun-seok appear at the event?”

“That wasn’t it. After the event, Jin-ah and I, the CFO I mentioned at the time, and another director went to the hotel rooftop bar together. I ran into Cho Hyun-seok there.”

“Who recognized Cho Hyun-seok first?”

“Cho Hyun-seok greeted us first. He didn’t just greet a specific person. He just said that he heard there was a Yangjin Group event today, so he must have come for the after-party, and shook hands with everyone. It was my first time meeting him, but Cho Hyun-seok recognized me first, so I greeted him.”

Jung Young-joon, who was recalling his memories, seemed to think about it again, and then confirmed that it was certain.

“Was that when you were at Yangjin F&B?”

“Yes, that’s right. That’s how I passed by Cho Hyun-seok. And then, while we were having a drink, I asked, ‘Who was that person?’ Then, the CFO asked if I didn’t know Cho Hyun-seok. He seemed to know everyone in that world. On the way home, Jin-ah just said that it’s better not to know, and told me not to associate with bad people.”

The Ji Myung-ho sex bribery case began in earnest when a female actress who had been at the drinking party together exposed it.

She had secretly recorded the conversation between Ji Myung-ho and his aides at the scene.

According to her testimony, she had to go through a procedure to check whether she had any electronic devices before entering the reception, but she was lucky enough to be able to bring her cell phone.

The recording in the cell phone was evidence that made it impossible for Ji Myung-ho to deny it.

As the investigation began, Ji Myung-ho, not wanting to face the consequences alone, leaked the names of several high-ranking officials who had been entertained with him.

In the process, Cho Hyun-seok’s name came up.

Ji Myung-ho said that if he asked Cho Hyun-seok, he would know more people, and that more people than he thought had received sexual favors through him.

He also said that if he could get Cho Hyun-seok to open his mouth, it would not be an exaggeration to say that Korea would be shaken.

Wouldn’t the executives of Yangjin Group, the 7th largest company in the business world, be included in it?

Chairman Go Sang-kyung, who is currently suspected of being the most likely suspect, cannot be outside that range.

To sum up, Chairman Go Sang-kyung has the strongest motive for the crime, and this time, there is a high possibility that he has a connection with Cho Hyun-seok, the cameraman.

At least, Go Sang-kyung will definitely know of Cho Hyun-seok’s existence.

Looking at what Go Jin-ah, a woman, said to Jung Young-joon about Cho Hyun-seok, it means that she also knows what Cho Hyun-seok does.

But Go Sang-kyung doesn’t know Cho Hyun-seok, a famous person in that world?

It doesn’t make sense.

To write a novel, Cho Hyun-seok, who learned that Go Sang-kyung’s aching tooth was Jung Young-joon, may have spread the video, saying that he would take care of it.

Cho Hyun-seok would have further solidified his connection with Go Sang-kyung as a result.

He may have received other rewards.

“Since evidence has come out that Cho Hyun-seok is the cameraman, why don’t we take this to the prosecution? I saw on the news that the prosecution is digging into Cho Hyun-seok a lot right now. If you say that Cho Hyun-seok made this video,”

“That’s difficult. If the word gets out through any channel, Jung Young-joon will also be branded as a shameless person who received sexual favors from Cho Hyun-seok.”

Jung Young-joon sighed deeply at my words.

In addition to what I told him, there are more reasons why I shouldn’t take it to the prosecution.

Looking back on the memories of my previous life, this case was not resolved cleanly.

Of course, Ji Myung-ho could not avoid responsibility and was imprisoned after trial.

Several related people also lost their positions, but that was all.

It was only a superficial solution.

This was possible because the case was prolonged, and other cases occurred continuously during the process, and public interest waned a lot.

First, when the case was starting to heat up, Jung Young-joon’s sex video came out and attention was focused on that side.

Second, a list of celebrities who had received sexual favors came out on a channel, and celebrities were holding tearful press conferences.

Then, Cho Hyun-seok, who had been keeping his mouth shut, began to brag that he would tell more famous people who had received sexual favors if he reduced his sentence.

The foolish prosecution chose to make a deal with him.

The case was dragged on because of Cho Hyun-seok.

In the end, Cho Hyun-seok received a lighter sentence than his crime deserved, and even that was released on parole.

The prosecution will not be of any help.

Even if the prosecution had the ability to solve it in the first place, it was highly likely that Jung Young-joon’s case would be put on the back burner.

“First, focus on Cho Hyun-seok, and we’ll find out more.”

“Is there a way?”

Jung Young-joon asked in an anxious voice.

“Yes. So first, rest assured and go back and rest. Attorney Kang will take you to your parents’ house.”

Was it because I answered firmly that there was a way?

Jung Young-joon nodded with a much better expression and left the office with Attorney Kang.

And I took out my cell phone and searched the phone book.

I should say that the sky helped.

I know someone in Special Investigation Department 1, who is in charge of the Ji Myung-ho Senior Secretary for Civil Affairs sex bribery case.