Ko Young-tae denies being close to Choi Soon-sil

Ko Young-tae, one of the key aides to President Park Geun-hye’s embattled friend Choi Soon-sil, offered new testimonies about his relationship with Choi and his job as a clothes manufacturer for Park during a parliamentary inquiry into the influence-peddling and corruption scandal.

During the hearing, Ko, the chief of handbag manufacturing company Villomillo, provided a clue which may implicate Choi and Park for bribery.

Ko said he made not only up to 40 bags, but also about 100 pieces of clothing for President Park, delivering them through Choi. He said Choi directly paid him for the goods worth about 45 million won ($38,700).

“I received 1.2 million won for ostrich skin bags and 2.8 million won for crocodile leather bags from Choi,” he said.

As Rep. Hwang Young-cheul of the ruling Saenuri Party asked him whether the money seemed like Choi’s personal money, he said “yes.”

Hwang raised “bribery” allegations that Choi paid for the products and gave them to Park in exchange for favors, citing that the presidential office said it had never set aside a budget for Park’s clothes and bags.

“I just made what I was asked to make. I never thought it could be bribes,” Ko said.

Ko, who has been rumored to be Choi’s “boy toy” amid speculations that he met Choi while working at a host bar in southern Seoul in 2006, also denied being close to Choi.

“I first met Choi while running Villomillo through my acquaintance who asked me to show the bags to Choi after the presidential election in 2012,” he said.

Ko, who also served as director at Choi’s Germany-based paper companies -- The Blue-K and Widec Sports -- said, “I was only a staff member of The Blue-K, but I was not close to Choi.”

Choi is accused of extorting donations from local conglomerates to the Mir and K-Sports foundations, which she controls, and siphoning off the funds for her personal use through the paper companies.

But Cha Eun-taek, a TV commercial director and Choi’s aide suspected of peddling influence over the culture industry through his ties to Choi, said, “I thought Ko and Choi were very close.”

Ko dismissed speculation that his relationship with Choi turned sour because of Cha, who he introduced to Choi. 

“Choi has hurled insulting remarks since two years ago and has not treated her subordinates like human beings on many occasions,” he said after being asked whether he hates her now.

Rumors have it that their relationship turned icy after Cha got closer to Choi than Ko was.

“Choi asked me to introduce a person with knowledge about the advertising sector and I introduced Cha, whose staff member was my close friend,” he said. “I thought that it was a mistake to introduce him after I found that Cha was poor at making advertisements.”

Ko also confirmed his earlier comments about Choi editing presidential speeches.

“I didn’t say Choi likes editing presidential speeches. But I have said Choi seemed to have edited presidential speeches,” he said.

Ko first brought up the allegations during an interview with cable TV network JTBC, which led it to search for and obtain a tablet PC, supposedly owned by Choi, containing files of presidential speeches in late October.

Ko denied speculations that he had delivered the tablet PC to a news outlet, saying “I have nothing to do with the tablet PC. I would have not left it like a fool in the office.”

He also said that Choi may not be able to use the table PC, but her daughter Chung Yoo-ra might be.

Asked whether he thought Choi was addicted to shots and propofol, he said that he had never seen Choi being injected.

“I don’t know for sure, but she went to see a doctor often. I don’t know (whether it is a drug addiction,) but I saw her repeat her words over and over again.”

The testimony came as other key witnesses involved in the sprawling scandal engulfing Park’s presidency -- former Presidential Chief of Staff Kim Ki-choon and former Vice Culture Minister Kim Chong -- have claimed no knowledge of any irregularities during the parliamentary hearing. 

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