‘Scandal investigation to begin as soon as possible’
Park Young-soo, the special prosecutor appointed to investigate the scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil, said Thursday he will waste no time getting things started.
Speaking to reporters near his office in southern Seoul, Park said he will recommend all eight assistant independent counsel candidates by the end of the week. Four of them will later be chosen by the President for a role as the bridge between Park Young-soo and 100 special investigators, including 20 current prosecutors.
The law allows the team to have 20 days to prepare its investigation of the influence-peddling case and up to 100 days to carry it out.
“I’m not going to spend 20 days only for preparation. I will finish that as soon as possible,” he said. “The law enacted for the special investigation does not say the team cannot investigate the case during the preparation period.”
The independent counsel requested the justice ministry to dispatch Yoon Seok-yeol, a senior prosecutor who led an investigation into the National Intelligence Service’s alleged interference in the 2012 presidential election, to the investigation team as one of the assistant counsels.
Yoon was dismissed from that investigation in 2013 for unclear reasons after revealing that people above him applied pressure to influ- ence the probe.
Former prosecutors who are close to park, including Oh Kwang-soo and Yang Jae-sik, have also been on the lips of many, but the independent counsel made it clear that candidates do not have to be his friends to work with him.
“The position requires great sacrifice, which makes me cautious about who to recommend. Candidates should be able to lead prosecutors well and have a keen sense of observation and analytical skills,” Park said. “Also, they need to be tenacious and work with a clear sense of mission.”
He will soon meet with Lee Young-ryeol, who has led the investigation so far as head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, to be briefed about the current situation of the probe. After forming his special investigation team, Park said he will review this with all its members.
“The most urgent task for us is to review what has been found so far,” he said. “We should set the right direction after talking with the prosecution.”
After graduating from Seoul National University with a religious studies degree in 1975, Park started working as a prosecutor at Seoul Northern District Prosecutor’s Office in 1983 after passing the bar exam.
His early career was built largely on cases involving gang members, but his fame came more from corruption cases involving the owners of major firms, including Hyundai Motor Chairman Chung Mong-koo and SK Chairman Chey Tae-won.