Investigators to indict maximum 15 more suspects before closure

The special counsel team looking into President Park Geun-hye’s corruption scandal is expected to indict up to 15 more suspects, including Samsung Group’s de facto boss Lee Jae-Yong, on the final day of its investigation that is scheduled to end Tuesday.

Faced with the nearing end of its term, it decided to give up on summoning the suspended president for face-to-face questioning and raiding the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae for further evidence.
 

“We will decide on whether or not to indict the suspects and hand them over en masse (to the trial),” said Lee Kyu-chul, the independent counsel’s spokesperson.

In addition to the 13 suspects already sent to court for the trial, the probe team looks set to indict 10 to 15 more suspected of helping Choi Soon-sil -- a longtime friend of Park -- peddle influence in state affairs.

The numbers are the largest-ever since South Korea first introduced an independent counsel system in 1999.

As for the billionaire heir apparent of Samsung, the probe team is likely to charge him for bribing two foundations controlled by Choi, with 43 billion won ($37.3 million), as part of Lee’s efforts to tighten his grip on one of the world’s largest technology empires. President Park’s role is also considered a key reason that led the National Assembly to pass the impeachment resolution in December.

Among suspects likely to be indicted Tuesday are the former president of the elite Ewha Womans University for allegedly giving favors to Choi’s daughter in university admission, and a private general practitioner for allegedly offering unauthorized anti-aging treatments to Park at the presidential office.

The lack of time, however, has led the probe team to wrap up the investigation with some cases still remaining unresolved.

It also finishes its investigation without summoning for questioning -- and searching the office of -- the suspended president.

“It is unfortunate that we couldn’t carry out the in-person questioning amid a disagreement with President Park’s legal team on how to proceed with the questioning,” the spokesman said.

Until recently, both Park’s legal team and the investigators were negotiating the questioning schedule but failed to reach a conclusion due to a “disagreement on how to secure transparency and fairness in the course of the questioning.”

It is also likely for the probe team to let state prosecutors decide on the fate of another of Park’s key aides, Woo Byung-woo.

The 50-year-old former senior presidential secretary for civil affairs is suspected of having abetted a wide range of irregularities committed by both Park and Choi, while in office from 2015 to 2016.

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)