While the prosecution’s investigation is still in progress over the Choi Soon-sil scandal, the general perception is that President Park Geun-hye’s confidante would never have retained a grip on state affairs, if not for active assistance from inside Cheong Wa Dae.
At the very heart of such suspicions is the president’s personal secretary office, a now-defunct branch which allegedly functioned as an undercover task force for the “shadow broker” Choi.
When President Park announced a partial reshuffle of her secretariat on Oct. 30, it was the dismissal of three secretary-level officials which caught the attention of the political audience, taking priority over the replacement of the chief of staff or other senior presidential secretaries.
The presidential office of Cheong Wa Dae(Yonhap)
Lee Jae-man, Jeong Ho-seong and Ahn Bong-geun -- dubbed “the doorknob trio” based on the widely spread rumor that they monopolized all communication channels with the state chief -- have one thing in common, besides their decades-long ties with Park.
It is the fact that they were, at one point or another, closely affiliated with the president’s personal secretary office.
The office, whose purpose is to carry out personal tasks and errands for the president, has all along been suspected of serving as a link between Choi and Park, or even acting under the direct command of the presidential acquaintance.
Doubts particularly center on the second personal office, which disappeared upon merging with the first office in January 2015, amid disputes that hidden presidential aide Jeong Yoon-hoe had influenced key personnel decisions. Jeong is the ex-husband of Choi.
Conventionally, the role of the second office is to assist the spouse and children of the president in their public appearances and speeches.
President Park, too, was subject to the office’s care during her father’s time in office, the late President Park Chung-hee, especially after the assassination of her mother Yuk Young-soo, an event which bestowed upon the young Park the role of acting first lady.
When the unmarried and childless Park was elected president in 2012, speculations rose that the surplus second office would be abolished for the sake of management efficacy.
The presidential transition committee, however, decided to maintain the organization, claiming to use it as a “communication channel with the socially disadvantaged.”
It was Ahn, one of the controversial trio, who was leading this questionable office at the time as personal secretary in charge.
Jeong, who is now under questioning over his alleged leak of presidential documents to Choi, has been in charge of the first office since Park took office in 2013.
While the precise and actual function of the second office remained veiled, those affiliated with it remained in the closest vicinity of the president for years. Unlike other presidential secretaries’ offices, the two personal offices were located in the very same building as the president’s office room.
What added to the suspicions was that most of the Blue House officials who were involved in the Choi scandal were connected to this second personal office.
Among them is Lee Young-sun, a presidential official who had been observed to accompany Choi over several occasions including her frequent visits to the presidential residence, and who worked in the office until the merger.
The Blue House security team’s testimony also seemed to back such suspicions on Choi’s power over the president’s personal offices.
“Certain cars are allowed inspection-free passage at Cheong Wa Dae’s gate, if there is advance notice coming from the presidential personal office,” said Lee Young-seok, deputy chief for security in answer to an opposition lawmaker’s question.
Cho In-geun, Park’s former speechwriter, admitted in a press conference earlier that presidential speech drafts were passed onto the personal secretary’s offices.
Reflecting such circumstances, a number of local media and political observers have been claiming that the mysterious second office was never abolished but just remained under cover so as to perform unofficial tasks, either for the president or the president’s friend Choi.
By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)
