Friends testify to S Korean Choi’s power
FRIENDS and associates of the woman at the heart of a corruption scandal engulfing South Korean President Park Geunhye told a hearing yesterday her influence extended to everything from Park’s wardrobe to senior appointments.
The impeachment-threatened Park has been accused of letting long-time confidante Choi Soon-sil meddle in a range of state affairs, and of ordering aides to leak confidential documents to Choi, who has no official title or security clearance.
The president is also suspected of colluding with Choi in strong-arming major conglomerates into donating funds to dubious foundations Choi controlled.
A major parliamentary hearing on the scandal has summoned the country’s most powerful business tycoons as well as Choi’s close associates, including a prominent K-pop video director and a fashion designer.
Cha Eun-taek, who once made videos for Gangnam Style star Psy, said Choi had once asked him to recommend potential candidates for culture minister and for a presidential adviser on culture.The names he put forward to Choi, including one of his uncles, ended up getting the jobs.
“So I thought . . . ‘What kind of person could possibly do something like this?’” Cha told lawmakers, describing Choi’s ties with Park as “extremely close”.
Another member of her inner circle, a young designer named Koh Young-tae whose relationship with Choi has been the subject of lurid media gossip, testified to the power Choi appeared to wield over senior administration officials.
He noted her treatment of Kim Chong, a former vice sports minister who is now under arrest on charges of awarding lucrative contracts to Choi and trying to help her meddle in preparations for the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics.
“Choi constantly gave orders to Kim . . . as if he was her personal assistant,” Koh told the televised hearing.
At the start of yesterday’s hearing, the chair of the parliamentary committee issued orders compelling Choi and members of her family to appear or face possible jail for contempt. Choi had been slated to answer questions yesterday but refused the summons, citing health reasons and the need to prepare for her pending trial.