Choi scandal shakes Park

“Even after taking office, I have sometimes received her help on some documents but quit doing so once constituting the Cheong Wa Dae staff line."

Park, however, added that she ”listened to Choi‘s opinion” only out of “pure” intention to have a thorough grasp of her speeches, alluding denial over the rumors that Choi was the de facto state power, controlling the president's words and actions.

Also, the president ended the short address without making pledges on summoning Choi for investigation or clarifying the persisting corruption allegations. She didn‘t take any questions either.

"But regardless of the reason, I am sorry for causing concerns, shock and pain to the people,“ she said, closing the presser that lasted less than 2 minutes. 

This was Park’s second official apology since taking office in February 2013, the first one being over the Sewol ferry sinking in April 2014.

The surprise address was made a day after an exclusive report that Choi may have had direct access to confidential documents including presidential speeches.

It also came amid escalating public calls for impeachment. Though none of the opposition parties mentioned it through official channels, the terms "impeachment" and "resignation" topped the search word list in most of the major portal sites on Tuesday.

According to JTBC‘s report, hundreds of confidential files, many of them presidential speeches, were discovered in an abandoned personal computer used by Choi, daughter of Choi Tae-min, the late pastor known to be the president’s mentor.

The revealing report caught the Blue House off guard, as the presidential house has so far insisted that rumors of Choi’s influence-rigging over the state leader were “groundless.”

It also overshadowed a proposed constitutional revision -- an unheralded state affairs agenda item brought forward by the president earlier in the morning.

Among the leaked files was Park’s landmark address delivered in the former East German city of Dresden in March 2013 in which she described the future of the Korean Peninsula built on the unity of the South’s capital and technology with the North’s natural resources and manpower.

The speech, which drew attention from the international community for its vision on regional future, took place on March 28, at around 6:40 p.m. But Choi’s computer record showed she accessed the file the previous day, when the corresponding contents should have not been disclosed.

So was the case for all 44 presidential speeches left in the abandoned computer, some of them containing correction marks in red font, changes which later were reflected in the president’s actual addresses.

Also, the fact that all these secret files were neglected in an unguarded personal computer raised suspicions of further leaks or the possibility of hacking.

The existence of these documents backed the earlier testimony by one of Choi’s close aides who claimed that “Choi enjoyed correcting the president’s speeches,” an allegation which was then refuted by Chief of Staff Lee Won-jong as something unthinkable.

But when faced by JTBC‘s disclosure, the Blue House withdrew to silence, refraining from commenting.

“We are currently working on finding out the details,” was the repeated reply of presidential spokesperson Jung Youn-kuk to reporters’ questions throughout the day.

The spokesman’s tentative response was clearly distinguishable from his past outspoken dismissal of rumors concerning Choi.

"We will not respond to every single rumor or allegation raised during the parliamentary state audit,” Jung had said several times over the past few weeks, offering no explanation on the alleged connection between the president and her disputed aide.

By Bae Hyun-jung (tellme@heraldcorp.com)