The prosecution is investigating President Park Geun-hye’s former Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon and former Senior Secretary Woo Byung-woo as suspects in the corruption scandal involving Park and her confidante, government officials said Wednesday.
A report for the parliamentary audit by the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Prosecutors’ Office showed that Kim is being investigated for abusing his authority to have officials removed from their posts. This is suspected to have been related to the establishment of the Mir and K-Sports foundations, which are believed to have served as a cover for Park’s civilian friend Choi Soon-sil to siphon public funds.
Former Senior Secretary Woo Byung-woo (Yonhap)
Kim, Park’s former right-hand man, is suspected of ordering then-Vice Culture Minister Kim Hee-bum to have six high-ranking ministry officials resign from their posts in 2014. Former Culture Minister Yoo Jin-ryong alleged that this may have been related to the ministry’s extraordinarily fast approval of the Mir and K-Sports foundations, which are believed to have been established as a cover for Park’s civilian friend Choi Soon-sil to siphon public funds.
Choi, the key figure in the scandal, is accused of using her relationship with the president to interfere in government personnel decisions and embezzle money via the two nonprofit organizations.
Choi and Park’s former Senior Secretary An Chong-bum have been indicted on charges of abusing authority, coercion and attempted fraud in relation to the establishment of the Mir and K-Sports foundations, which received some 77.4 billion won ($66.2 million) of donations from local companies.
Whether Kim and Choi were acquainted before the scandal surfaced has been a topic of dispute, with Kim denying that he knew about Choi’s influence in the irregularities.
“Call me incompetent or an idiot, but I had no idea that such a person (Choi) was behind Park to do these things,” Kim told local media Tuesday.
Opposition lawmakers including Rep. Joo Seung-yong of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said this was unlikely, pointing out that Kim had been very close to Park and her father, former President Park Chung-hee.
Former Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon (Yonhap)
Kim also denied having told Kim Chong -- a former vice culture minister -- to “look after” Choi’s daughter Chung Yoo-ra, despite Kim Chong testifying so.
Kim Chong is also under investigation for leaking classified governmental documents to Choi for her financial gains.
The report to the parliamentary inquiry revealed that the former vice minister also pressured Samsung Electronics to donate 1.6 billion won to the Korea Winter Sports Elite Center, an organization established by Choi’s niece Jang Si-ho.
Investigators are checking if financial support provided by Samsung for Chung -- along with donations made by Samsung and other companies -- amounted to bribes for Park’s inner circles.
With Park snubbing the prosecution’s request for a face-to-face interview, the prosecution has said that it will be realistically difficult for them to bring bribery charges against the president. The president has been formally accused of being an accomplice to Choi and An on establishing the Mir and K-Sports foundations, along with conspiring with her former aide Jeong Ho-Seong to leakpresidential documents to Choi.
Investigation of the bribery charges against Park is expected to be done by independent counsel Park Young-soo, former chief of Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office. He was nominated by the opposition coalition Tuesday and appointed by Park on Wednesday.
President Park had vowed to “actively cooperate” with the independent counsel and expressed hopes that the investigation would get to the bottom of Choi scandal, according to Cheong Wa Dae Spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk
Upon its launch, the independent counsel is given 20 days of preparation, followed by 70 days of investigation and a 30-day extension if necessary. As the bipartisan agreement states that it is possible to work on the case during the preparation period, it is possible for Park Young-soo to conduct up to 120 days of investigation.
During her public address Tuesday, the president effectively denied the charges against her by saying that she believed the acts related to Choi -- such as establishing the two foundations -- were “for the good of the country.”
“The special investigative team will continue to investigate in parallel to the independent counsel, and we can possibly cooperate as well,” said an official from the prosecution’s special investigative team.
Civic groups and the opposition have also called for the independent counsel to investigate what the president did on the day of the tragic 2014 sinking of the ferry Sewol that left 304 dead or missing.
Starting from when she first received a report on the accident on the day, she did not make a physical appearance for seven hours, sparking rumors and suspicions about what she had been doing during one of the worst maritime disasters in the country’s history.
Vice Justice Minister Lee Chang-jae told the parliament Wednesday that he believes that the independent counsel will review the case.
By Yoon Min-sik (
minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)
