Politics, in itself, is about taking and exercising power, and it is often accompanied by gambits, intrigue, mudslinging, lies and betrayals. Yet, one cannot help but feel bitter as the scandal surrounding President Park Geun-hye’s former and incumbent aides is getting out of hand, revealing many dirty aspects of politics.
The core issue in the snowballing scandal is whether or not President Park Geun-hye’s former aide, Chung Yoon-hoi, peddled influence behind the scenes in collaboration with a clique of Blue House officials.
While the prosecution is speeding up investigation into the case, which was prompted by the leak of a Blue House internal report, new allegations keep battering the presidential office.
One of the allegations, raised by Yoo Jin-ryong, a former minister of culture, sports and tourism, points to possible connections between Chung and Park’s close aides at the Blue House.
Yoo claimed in a newspaper interview that Park called him to her office in August last year and ordered him to replace two officials in his ministry, calling them by name.
He said that he felt Chung was behind the president’s order, because the two officials were involved in handling an audit into the Korea Equestrian Federation regarding the selection of members of the national equestrian squad, which included Chung’s daughter.
Yoo also alleged that Lee Jae-man, Park’s long-time aide and now presidential secretary for administrative affairs, peddled influence in the ministry’s personnel management, in collaboration with Kim Chong, vice minister of culture, sports and tourism.
Both the Blue House and the vice minister denied Yoo’s allegations. Presidential spokesman Min Kyung-wook said that the president called in Yoo to discuss irregularities rampant in the sports sector and she only asked Yoo to expedite efforts to address the problem.
The spokesman did not clarify, however, whether or not Park mentioned the names of the two ministry officials as Yoo claimed and whether or not she called them “bad people” as reported by some media.
It would be fair to say that Yoo may well have a grudge against Park and her aides since he was dismissed against his will in July this year, and that he had not been on good terms with vice minister Kim.
Nevertheless, what the former minister said ― not least through the media ― deepens the suspicion that Chung and Park’s close aides peddled influence in government affairs in one way or another.
President Park, in a meeting with ruling party leaders Sunday, dismissed the allegations categorically, saying that “It is shameful that the entire nation is swayed” by rumors. She did not, however, specify which allegations she was speaking about.
Despite Park’s denial, the scandal, in view of its nature, is headed to become ― or has already become ― the biggest political crisis Park has faced since taking office about two years ago.
On the surface, the crisis surrounds allegations about Chung and his ties to Lee and two personal assistants to Park ― who are sometimes called the “three doorknobs” to presidential power and who are accused of peddling influence and abusing power.
Underlying the crisis, however, are the problems with the way the president runs the government and the Blue House, including her excessive emphasis on secrecy and reliance on members of her inner circle. The current crisis obliges her to address this fundamental problem on her own. Her first step should be getting rid of those controlling access to her office, instead of making remarks that could affect the ongoing investigation.
