Chung Yoo-ra attends hearing on arrest warrant

The daughter of Choi Soon-sil, who is at the center of the scandal that led to former President Park Geun-hye’s downfall, turned up at a local court Friday to fight against the prosecution’s request for her arrest.

Chung Yoo-ra, 21, attended the hearing at the Seoul Central District Court, which will decide whether to detain her for another 20 days for questioning in connection with the allegations involving her mother and Park. The court’s decision is expected to come near or past midnight.

The prosecution sought an arrest warrant for Chung earlier in the day on two charges -- enrolling at Ewha Womans University through illegal means and using fabricated documents to obtain leave of absence from a high school.

If issued, the prosecution can hold her in detention for extra 20 days before filing charges against her.

Chung, who is believed to be the biggest beneficiary of her mother’s alleged wrongdoings, including extortion from local firms, was grilled for 16 hours at the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office until early Friday morning.

Chung was extradited from Denmark and arrested onboard a Korean Air flight en route to Seoul on Wednesday. She is being held at Nambu Detention Center, where her mother is also being held.

She faces allegations that she was accepted into an elite school despite questionable qualifications and given special favors for academic records despite poor attendance on the back of her mother’s ties to Park. Her mother and the school’s officials are on trial for their roles in the alleged academic fraud.

She is also suspected of receiving illicit funding from Samsung Group. Samsung allegedly offered 7.8 billion won ($6.95 million) to Choi-controlled entities to cover Chung’s equestrian training abroad and buy expensive horses.

The prosecution considers it as bribes in return for the Park administration’s backing of a merger of two Samsung affiliates, a key to consolidate Samsung de facto chief Lee Jae-yong’s control over the nation’s largest conglomerate.

Lee is on a separate trial and has denied the charges.

Chung has distanced herself from the allegations, shifting all responsibility to her mother.

Upon her arrival at Incheon Airport on Wednesday, she said, “I think I was wrongly accused. I don’t know what happened between my mother and former President Park Geun-hye.”

Her mother Choi is jailed and on trial on charges of colluding with former President Park to extort bribes and donations from local firms. Park, who was removed from office in March over the scandal, is also on trial for the same charges. They denied all the accusations.

Chung had been in the custody of Danish authorities since January for illegal stay while fighting the extradition order. She withdrew the appeal earlier this month.

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