She attended Sehwa Girls' High School, graduating in 1984, and then Seoul National University where she received her bachelor's degree in International Relations in 1988.

[1] During the 2002 South Korean presidential election she worked as a spokesperson for Lee Choi-chang of the Grand National Party.

[2][3] She left Kim & Chang in 2006 to work for Citibank Korea where she became General Counsel and a managing director.

[13] In December 2016, as part of the continued investigation of corruption under President Park Geun-hye, the existence of a political blacklist of artists came to light.

[23] On 23 January 2018, Cho was convicted of her role in drawing up plans to blacklist over 10,000 South Korean artists critical of President Park.

She was arrested in the courtroom and was sentenced to two more years of prison in addition to the six months she served on the minor perjury charge from January to July 2017.

[24] In August 2018, in a separate corruption case involving funds from the National Intelligence Service, prosecutors asked the court to sentence Cho to serve six years in prison and to pay a fine of 100 million won ($90,000).