Prosecution secures key evidence in Choi scandal

The prosecution Monday secured what appears to be key evidence that Choi Soon-sil, President Park Geun-hye’s longtime confidante, meddled in state affairs in an escalating investigation into the influence-peddling scandal.

Prosecutors said they discovered recorded phone conversations between Park’s former presidential aide Jeong Ho-seong and Choi on Jeong’s phones that were seized during a raid on his home late last month.

Jeong, ex-secretary for the president’s private affairs, was arrested Sunday on charges of leaking official secrets. Jeong, who resigned on Oct. 30 following the scandal, allegedly handed over classified documents such as presidential speeches and policy guidelines to Choi.

They also secured Jeong’s planner that allegedly includes a schedule of President Park’s meetings with chiefs of local conglomerates. In July last year, Park allegedly asked for financial donations from the 17 chiefs of local firms to the Mir and K-Sports foundations during a closed-door lunch meeting. 

The phone also included a recording of Jeong’s conversation with Park. The prosecution said that it did not find anything related to the nepotism scandal from the file. 

The key pieces of evidence are likely to offer clues on what roles President Park, Choi and a former presidential aide An Chong-bum played in pressuring local firms to raise donations for the non-profit foundations.

The investigation team also called in for questioning two executive directors, surnamed Park and Lee, of a business lobby group the Federation of Korean Industries.

The FKI is suspected of encouraging its member firms including Samsung Group, Hyundai Motor, LG Group and Posco to contribute nearly 80 billion won ($69.9million) to the K-Sports and Mir foundations.

Choi was arrested Thursday on charges of abuse of authority as an accessory to An, a former senior presidential secretary for policy coordination, and for attempted fraud for siphoning off funds from the K-Sports and Mir foundations for private use.

An was arrested Sunday on charges of abusing authority and attempted coercion for his involvement in raising funds for the foundations.

President Park appears to deny her involvement in forcing local firms to donate money to the foundations. In a second televised address Friday, Park said that she regrets disappointing local firms who offered help to her out of good will, adding that the donations for the foundations were to help the nation’s economy and the lives of the Korean people.

The prosecution also summoned the deputy secretary-general of the Mir Foundation and chief of the Korean branch of Widec Sports owned by Choi. It is looking into whether the donations were funneled into Choi through Choi’s firms Germany-based firms.

Ex-presidential secretary Woo Byung-woo, suspected of embezzlement and abuse of authority, returned home Monday after a 15-hour questioning session.

Woo was questioned over allegations that he siphoned off funds from his family-owned company and used his influence to get his son assigned to a relatively easy post while serving mandatory military service.

The prosecution is set to look into his alleged dereliction of his duty in connection with the Choi Soon-sil scandal. It asked the Justice Ministry to impose a travel ban on Woo.

Woo was suspected of not doing his job properly while serving as a presidential secretary for civic affairs by turning a blind eye to Choi peddling influence over personnel appointments and state affairs.

By Ock Hyun-ju  (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)