It is like peeling an onion. The scandal that centered on President Park Geun-hye’s longtime associate Choi Soon-sil is turning up one new allegation after another day by day.
What’s distressing is that many of the allegations sound plausible and thus will likely agitate the political community further at a time when the nation faces a plethora of daunting challenges, including North Korea’s nuclear threat to the slowdown of the economy.
As a matter of fact, many, including this paper, expected the scandal would never remain a storm in a teacup, because, most of all, it involved none other than Choi, a longtime close associate of the president.
Choi and her ex-husband Chung Yun-hoe – who was Park’s chief of staff when she was a lawmaker, have been constantly rumored to exert influence on appointments of senior officials and other state affairs on the strength of their relationship with the president.
So many nodded along when allegations arose that Choi masterminded the establishment of the Mir and K-Sports foundations, for which conglomerates donated about 80 billion won ($70.6 million) via the business lobby Federation of Korean Industries.
Several things convinced many that someone powerful was behind the work to establish the foundations: The money was collected in a short period of time and the government paperwork for the foundations’ registration was exceptionally fast. Moreover, senior posts at the foundations, including the chairmanship of the K-Sports Foundation, went to people close to Choi.
Then came allegations that Choi’s daughter, a medal-winning dressage competitor, was given illicit favors when she was admitted to Ewha Womans University through a special admission program for athletes. There are also suspicions that Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter, received inflated grades. Its president has resigned as protesting spread from students to professors.
Now the scandal -- the opposition has aptly called it Choi Soon-sil-gate -- is focused on two suspicious sports marketing firms Choi established, apparently in time for the launch of the K-Sports Foundation.
According to news reports and testimony, “Widec” and “The Blue K” are believed to be paper companies set up by Choi. They are based in Germany and Korea, and Choi and her daughter are their only shareholders. Chung’s German equestrian trainer is listed as the only employee of Widec, which has bought a tourist hotel near Frankfurt, Germany, where Chung trains.
There are more irregularities: Some staffers at the K-Sports Foundation double as employees of both Widec and The Blue K; K-Sports asked a conglomerate to invest 8 billion won for a project to be coordinated by The Blue K.
All these indicate that Choi used her influence to launch the two foundations and tried to utilize them – especially the K-Sports – for the benefit of her personal business undertakings.
As allegations grow and public outcries mount, President Park broke her silence by touching on the issue in a meeting with top Blue House aides Thursday.
To make it short, Park said that the business community raised funds for the two foundations voluntarily to help promote Korean culture and sports abroad. She also dismissed the allegation that the two foundations were related with her post-retirement plans.
Park did say anyone who committed illegal acts like embezzlement should face stern punishment. But the main point of her comments was that she saw no problem with the foundations and excessive accusations against them would do the nation no good.
This is far from what she – as president and a person who knows so well about Choi and her family – is obligated to say: What roles did Choi and people close to her, as well as her aides, have in the establishment of the two foundations? She also should have clarified her relationship with Choi.
Now calls for a full investigation into the scandal, especially into Choi, are growing even in the ruling party. Only Park is still none the wiser about its gravity.
