Denmark detains figure in South Korean scandal

The daughter of Choi Soon-sil, the woman at the centre of a corruption scandal that led to the impeachment of South Korea’s president, has been arrested in Denmark after months in hiding, Seoul prosecutors said on Monday.

Chung Yoo-ra, the 20-yearold daughter of the woman dubbed South Korea’s Rasputin, is one of the figures in the influence-peddling scandal that sparked huge street protests demanding the removal of President Park Geun-hye.

Danish police arrested Chung on Sunday night for overstaying her visa, Korean prosecutors said, adding that they were in talks with Danish authorities to have her deported to Seoul. Chung was arrested in the northern town of Aalborg after a tip-off from a Korean journalist, Danish police said.

Danish police said Chung was aware that South Korean authorities wanted to talk to her. She was in the country “in connection with equestrian sports”.

Choi, a secret confidante of Park, is accused of using her ties with the president to force top firms including Samsung to “donate” nearly $70m to nonprofit foundations which Choi then used as her own cash.

She is also accused of using her influence to secure her daughter’s admission to an elite Seoul university, with a state probe revealing the school had admitted Chung at the expense of other candidates with better qualifications.

The revelation touched a raw nerve in education-obsessed South Korea and prosecutors sought to question Chung over her admission to Ewha Women’s University in 2014.

Park stands accused of colluding with Choi to extract money from the firms and also of letting her meddle in state affairs including nominating top officials. The president denies all charges against her.

Parliament voted on December 9 to impeach Park over the scandal and her executive powers have been handed to an acting president, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn.

The impeachment case is being considered by the Constitutional Court — which has up to six months to reach a ruling — but hundreds of thousands of South Koreans have joined weekly protests calling for Park’s immediate departure from office.

If the impeachment is confirmed, a presidential election will have to be held within 60 days of the ruling.

Choi, daughter of a controversial religious figure who had been close to Park until he died in 1994, is awaiting trial on charges including coercion and abuse of power.

Several professors at Ewha Women’s University, including a former school president, have been investigated for giving Chung preferential treatment. One was arrested at the weekend for allegedly giving Chung a good grade for a class she never attended.