Danish arrest adds to Park’s woes in Seoul
Print Edition
DANISH police have arrested the equestrian competitor daughter of a woman at the center of a South Korean influence-peddling scandal that has engulfed President Park Geun-hye, prosecutors said yesterday.
The scandal led to Park’s impeachment by parliament on December 9 and has drawn hundreds of thousands of protesters onto the streets of the capital, Seoul, for weekly demonstrations.
South Korean authorities had been seeking the arrest of Chung Yoo-ra, 20, for her ties to the scandal in which her mother, Choi Soon-sil, is a central figure. Chung had been sought for alleged criminal interference related to her academic record, and other unspecified charges.
Park, 64, could become South Korea’s first democratically elected leader to be forced to leave office early. The parliamentary impeachment must be confirmed or overturned by the Constitutional Court, which has months to rule.
“We will request an emergency extradition of Chung, working with the special prosecutor’s office,” Lee Chul-sung, commissioner general of the Korea National Police Agency, told a media briefing in Seoul.
The two countries have an extradition treaty.
Chung, who did equestrian training in Germany, was arrested in the northern Danish city of Aalborg for staying illegally, at around 4am Seoul time yesterday, Lee said.
South Korea’s foreign ministry has been working to invalidate Chung’s passport and authorities have asked German prosecutors for information about her whereabouts and assets.
The influence-peddling scandal centers on accusations the president colluded with her friend Choi to pressure big businesses to make contributions to non-profit foundations backing presidential initiatives.
Park, whose father ruled the country for 18 years after seizing power in a 1961 coup, has denied wrongdoing but apologized for carelessness in her ties with Choi, who is facing her own trial.
Choi also denies wrongdoing.
As part of their investigation, prosecutors are trying to ascertain whether Samsung Electronics sought favors from Choi and Park in return for funding some of their initiatives.
In particular, they are looking at whether favors Samsung sought included the National Pension Service’s support for Samsung’s founding family in a shareholder vote last year.
An element of the investigation has been Samsung’s sponsorship of Chung’s riding career.
Chung told Danish police she was staying in Denmark for equestrian-related work, according to South Korea’s JTBC TV channel. A Volkswagen vehicle and horse-riding equipment were found at the house where Chung and her party were arrested, JTBC said.
Danish officials had five people in custody, including Chung and a child born in 2015, a police official said. Chung is known to have a young son.
The others in custody are two men who appear to be Koreans in their late 20s or early 30s and a woman in her 60s.
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