S Korean aides arrested amid scandal
SOUTH Korean prosecutors arrested two former top presidential aides yesterday in a snowballing influence-peddling scandal that has seen tens of thousands of people take to the streets to demand President Park Geun-hye resign.
Park’s approval ratings have hit a historic low of 5 percent over the scandal involving her close friend Choi Soon-sil.
Choi has been arrested for fraud and stands accused of meddling in state affairs despite holding no official position.
Ahn Jong-beom, a former senior adviser to Park, was formally arrested early yesterday on charges of abuse of power and attempted coercion, the Yonhap news agency reported. He is suspected of helping Choi collect millions of dollars in donations from conglomerates to two dubious non-profit foundations that Choi set up.
Ahn, who has been in custody since Wednesday after stepping down late last month said he would “take responsibility” for failing to properly advise the president, Yonhap reported.
Prosecutors also arrested Jeong Hoseong, another ex-presidential aide, over claims he leaked classified information.
The 47-year-old Jeong, who was known as Park’s right hand man and has assisted her since 1998, is suspected of passing presidential speeches and official documents to Choi.
Park has been scrambling to restore trust in her administration amid the deepening crisis, reshuffling ministers and advisers to bring in figures from outside her ruling Saenuri Party. But the reshuffle has done little to assuage anger, with tens of thousands of protesters rallying to demand her resignation in a candlelight demonstration on Saturday.
Police said around 50,000 people had turned out for the rally – more than double the size of a similar anti-Park protest the week before. Organisers said the number was closer to 200,000.
Han Gwang-ok, Park’s new chief of staff who was appointed last week, said Saturday’s protest reflected the gravity of the current situation.
“All senior secretaries must fully cooperate in uncovering the truth be- yond any doubt,” Han said during a meeting with the presidential secretaries yesterday.
In a televised address on Friday, Park agreed to be questioned by prosecutors, and sought to portray herself as an overtrusting friend who had let her guard down at a moment of weakness.
Her voice choking with emotion, Park said she had been living a “lonely life” as president and had turned to Choi for company and help.
The South Korean media have portrayed Choi, whose late father was a shadowy religious leader, as a Rasputinlike figure who wielded an unhealthy influence over the president.
Park has been forced to deny that she fell for a religious cult or allowed shamanist rituals to be performed in the presidential Blue House.
Despite the mass protests, Park is not expected to resign with just over a year of her single term in office left.
Whatever transpires, the very personal nature of the scandal has severely undermined Park’s ability to govern, turning her into the lamest of lame-duck leaders at a time of slowing economic growth, rising unemployment and elevated military tensions with North Korea.