Two of President Park Geun-hye’s former closest aides appeared before prosecutors Monday, as the investigation into a scandal involving her friend zeroed in on the embattled leader.

Ahn Bong-geun and Lee Jae-man arrived the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office at about 9:25 a.m. and 10:25 a.m., respectively, to be questioned over their possible involvement.

They are alleged to have assisted Choi Soon-sil, Park’s longtime confidante, in meddling in state affairs and bullying major conglomerates into paying into her slush funds.

Asked by media whether he personally knew Choi and about other allegations, Ahn declined to comment, saying he would “speak with the investigators upstairs.”
Lee also simply said he would undergo the investigation “with sincerity.”

The two were sacked late last month as after working with Park for nearly 20 years, along with another secretary Jeong Ho-seong. Jeong has been arrested on suspicion of leaking state secrets.

During the latest questioning, prosecutors intended to look into whether Ahn and Lee passed confidential documents to Choi and acted as intermediaries between her and the president. Ahn and Lee were summoned as “reference witnesses,” but investigators may change their status to “suspects” if evidence against them grows. The special prosecutors’ team also raided their homes Wednesday. 

The three former secretaries were suspected to have jointly used the email ID “greatpark1819” to send Park’s speeches, Cabinet meeting materials and other sensitive files discovered on Choi’s tablet computer.

As a presidential administrative affairs secretary, Lee was responsible for document security at Cheong Wa Dae.  

Ahn faces allegations of having offered his car to facilitate Choi’s entry to the presidential residence.

Their appearance came as the prosecution intends to directly question the president this week. It has delivered a plan via the Justice Ministry to Cheong Wa Dae, which said in response it will provide its position around Tuesday, after hiring an attorney and completing other preparations based on Park’s schedule.

The team is exploring the formalities of what would be an unprecedented investigation of the sitting leader. It is thought to be leaning toward quizzing Park at a safe house inside the presidential compound.

In another development, the prosecution on Monday raided the southern Seoul home of Cho Won-dong, a former senior presidential economic secretary. Cho allegedly sought to force Miky Lee, also known as Lee Mie-kyung, to step down as vice chairwoman of CJ Group.

According to a recorded transcript exposed to the media, Cho called her uncle, CJ Group Co-Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, in late 2013 and warned the company may be investigated by the prosecution if Lee didn’t quit.

His words were in line with the president’s will, Cho added, saying Sohn had better make a decision “before it gets too late and dangerous.”

Lee and Sohn were steering the group in aid of her younger brother, CJ Group Co-Chairman Lee Jay-hyun, who was in prison for embezzlement, breach of trust and tax evasion.

Rumors had circulated that the food and entertainment conglomerate had incurred the wrath of the administration for airing shows satirizing Park on its cable television channel, and releasing a film that fanned positive memories of late liberal President Roh Moo-hyun.

During the search, the investigators said they secured Cho’s mobile phone, computer hard disk, papers and other materials. If they find evidence for the allegations, they could charge him with abuse of authority and interference with the group’s management.

Since being dismissed from his Blue House post in June 2014, Cho has been teaching economic policy as a professor emeritus at Chung-Ang University in Seoul.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)