Lawmakers quiz Park’s elusive pal in jail cell
Print Edition
A HANDFUL of South Korean lawmakers yesterday finally got to question the woman at the heart of the impeachment crisis surrounding President Park Geun-hye, after she snubbed a televised hearing at her detention center.
Choi Soon-sil, a long-time friend of the president, has repeatedly ignored several summons to appear before a parliamentary committee probing a corruption scandal that led to Park’s impeachment earlier this month.
So the lawmakers went to her, with the committee organizing a special hearing yesterday — with TV cameras — inside the detention facility where Choi is awaiting trial on charges of extortion and abuse of power.
Choi initially refused to leave her cell, but eventually agreed to meet eight selected members of the committee behind closed doors.
Citing the lawmakers, Yonhap news agency reported that Choi denied all charges, including allegations that she colluded with the president and set up two dubious foundations that were later used for her personal gain.
Choi, however, said she was prepared to serve a life sentence and apologized to the public for “causing confusion,” according to Yonhap.
She said she was feeling “dizzy” both physically and mentally and refused to answer most of the lawmakers’ questions during the meeting that lasted nearly three hours, Yonhap said.
Two former top presidential aides being held in a separate facility also refused to appear for questioning.
There are no legal grounds for forcing witnesses to attend a parliamentary hearing, although they can be held in contempt and face a maximum five-year prison term for not doing so.
The National Assembly voted to impeach Park earlier this month, stripping away all her executive powers.
She remains president in name, pending a decision by the Constitutional Court.
Earlier yesterday, prosecutors seized documents during an early morning raid on the central Seoul residence of Kim Ki-choon, who served as Park’s chief of staff between 2013-15.
Kim has a long association with Park’s family, having also served her father — the late military strongman Park Chung-hee who led the country for 18 years after seizing power in a 1961 coup.
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