The trial involving former President Park Geun-hye, who is on trial over a series of corruption allegations, will accelerate starting this week, with the court adding one more hearing per week.
The Seoul Central District Court is scheduled to hold four hearings every week to look into the alleged bribery allegations involving Samsung Group on Mondays and Tuesdays, and SK and Lotte Group on Thursdays and Fridays.
Park, who remains in detention, is on trial over a total of 18 charges including bribery and abuse of power in connection with the scandal that removed her from office.
Former President Park Geun-hye, who is now in jail over corruption charges, is taken to the Seoul Central District Court on May 30, 2017. (Yonhap)
The prosecution suspects that Park solicited or was promised to receive bribes totaling 59.2 billion won ($52.6 million) from Samsung, Lotte and SK in the guise of donations for entities controlled by her longtime friend Choi Soon-sil in return for policy favors.
This week, the court will bring in a professor involved in the national pension agency’s decision to vote in favor of a merger of Samsung Group’s two affiliates and other officials involved in the dubious donations.
Samsung Group’s de facto leader Lee Jae-yong is on a separate trial for allegedly offering bribes to Park and Choi to secure the merger in 2015, a key for Lee to consolidate his control over the nation’s largest conglomerate.
Former Health Minister Moon Hyung-pyo received 2 1/2 years in prison last week for influencing the National Pension Service to vote for the merger. But the verdict did not include the bench’s judgement on whether Moon had done so under Park’s order.
SK is suspected of seeking to have its chief pardoned, while Lotte Group allegedly looked to win a business license for its duty-free shop in exchange for the donations.
Park’s lawyers asked the court to reduce the number of hearings per week, citing Park’s frail health and lack of time to prepare her defense. They even said, “Before Park is a former president, she is an old and weak woman.”
The court, however, rejected the request, citing the huge amount of investigation records and the need to call in hundreds of witnesses.
The trial of Woo Byung-woo, a former presidential secretary for civil affairs, will also begin Friday. He is suspected of condoning or abetting the alleged corruption under the Park administration.
In the first hearing, a former culture minister, who is also jailed, will testify on whether Woo peddled undue influence to sack the ministry’s government officials who were uncooperative with the Park administration.
It is also set to wrap up its proceedings for Lee young-sun, a former administrative staff at the Blue House. He is suspected of assisting Park when she received dubious cosmetic treatments at the presidential residence.
The court handed down an 18-month term in prison, suspended for three years, to Park’s “shadowy” doctor Lee Young-jae. He was convicted of providing cosmetic treatments to Park at the Blue House without leaving any official records.
It was the first ruling on key figures implicated in the corruption scandal. The court is reserving other rulings related to the corruption scandal until it finishes hearing Park’s case.
The prosecution, meanwhile, is considering summoning Choi’s daughter Chung Yoo-ra for questioning and applying for an arrest warrant for her again this week. The court rejected an earlier request, citing the lack of evidence.
Chung, 21, faces allegations that she was unfairly accepted into an elite school and received good grades despite her lack of qualifications on the back of her mother’s ties to Park. Her mother and the school’s officials stood trial for their involvement in the alleged academic fraud, with the court’s ruling scheduled for June 23.
Chung is also considered the biggest beneficiary in the alleged bribery scheme involving Park and Choi.
By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)