[Newsmaker] Can independent counsel untangle Choi scandal?

Independent counsel Park Young-soo faces the daunting task of proving exactly how deep the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye runs.

South Korea’s prosecutors Sunday effectively wrapped up their two-month investigation, handing over the baton to the special counsel. They managed to link criminal activities committed by Park’s former aides An Chong-bum and Jeong Ho-seong to her through notes and recorded phone conversations which showed the two were acting under the president’s orders.
Park Young-soo, who has been appointed the independent counsel to investigate a political scandal that centers on President Park Geun-hye's close friend Choi Soon-sil, is surrounded by reporters while entering his office in southern Seoul on Dec. 11. (Yonhap)An has been indicted along with Park’s longtime friend Choi for pressuring Korean conglomerates to raise funds -- suspected to be bribes for Choi’s inner circles -- for the two nonprofit organizations Mir and K-Sports foundations, and Jeong was accused of leaking government secrets to Choi.

While the indictments for An and Choi specified Park as their accomplice, the prosecutors have stopped short of pressing bribery charges against the president. Instead it only accused her as guilty of abuse of authority, coercion and leaking classified documents.

Park Young-soo, formerly the chief of Seoul High Prosecutors’ Office, is expected to tackle thorny issues including bribery, allegations surrounding Park’s former Senior Secretary Woo Byung-woo and what the president was doing during the critical hours of the sinking of the ferry Sewol in 2014.

Among the charges, bribery is expected to be a game changer in the scandal. The allegations President Park is facing now are only punishable by up to five years in prison, while a sentence for bribery ranges from 10 years to life in prison.

“After looking into the cited (bribery) allegation, we decided that it needs additional investigation and have forwarded the relevant records and evidence to the Park Young-soo independent counsel team,” said the prosecution.

Park Young-soo’s team is reportedly scrutinizing records of donations linked to Choi that were made by the country’s largest companies -- including the biggest benefactor of the Mir and K-Sports foundations, Samsung Group.

Samsung is suspected of supporting Choi and her associates in exchange for protecting its business interests, namely the government-run National Pension Service’s backing of a merger between Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries Inc.

Lotte Group is also suspected of making a 7 billion won ($6 million) donation to K-Sports to regain its duty-free shop license.

In addition to coercing the corporations into making donations, Choi is also suspected of embezzling the foundations’ funds and interfering in the companies’ operations for personal gains.

In addition, Park Young-soo’s team is also expected to grill those who the prosecution failed to put under scrutiny.

While the prosecution’s special investigative team managed to pinpoint the incumbent president as a suspect, it came under criticism for what some have accused as a passive attitude toward powerful persons of interest.

Despite Woo being a prominent figure in the presidential office and a key figure in the Choi scandal, it was revealed that the team never summoned him for questioning after his status was switched from key witness to a suspect. An official from the prosecution refused to give an explanation for this, saying it was “inappropriate” to comment when an independent counsel is about to commence investigation.

Woo is suspected of condoning criminal activities related to Choi.

A photo of him sitting comfortably with his arms crossed during an investigation has also fueled the suspicion that the investigators were going easy on the former prosecutor.

Kim Ki-chun, the president’s former chief of staff who was among her most trusted, is also expected to be summoned for possible involvement in the Choi scandal.

He initially claimed to have not known Choi at all, but he recently admitted that he “cannot say that he does not know Choi” to the parliament after opposition lawmakers showed him a video of Park Geun-hye mentioning Choi’s name several times in Kim’s presence.

Park herself is among those who the prosecution failed to interview, as she flip-flopped on her initial pledge to cooperate and repeatedly snubbed its summons.

A bribery charge against Park may be a damning case in her impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court, which will continue from December for up to six months. The 2004 impeachment trial of former President Roh Moo-hyun effectively outlined bribery or embezzlement of public funds by a president as acts that can validate an impeachment.

Allegations surrounding her seven-hour disappearance from public eyes during the 2014 Sewol ferry sinking disaster is also to be investigated by the independent counsel. There have been suspicions that Park received cosmetic treatment or got her hair done during the crucial hours of the Sewol tragedy.

The Constitutional Court states that the president is obliged to protect the lives and safety of the people during a national crisis.

Other suspicions include those surrounding Choi’s daughter Chung Yoo-ra, who was found to have received unlawful favors from Chungdam High School and Ewha Womans University. The Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education recently nullified her graduation from Chungdam and her admission to Ewha.

Chung, a professional dressage rider, is also suspected of receiving favors form a wide-range of government officials in the culture and sports sectors including former Vice Culture Minister Kim Chong.

By Yoon Min-sik (minsikyoon@heraldcorp.com)

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