Park to address nation over scandal
Print Edition
SOUTH Korean President Park Geun-hye is set to address the nation today over a snowballing political scandal that saw her close friend arrested for corruption and sparked calls for her resignation.
Park will deliver the public address — her second since the scandal broke last month — this morning, her spokesman said.
The announcement came shortly after a Seoul court formally approved an arrest warrant for Choi Soon-sil, Park’s close friend who is facing charges of fraud and abuse of power.
Choi, who has been held in emergency detention since Monday, is accused of coercing local firms to donate large sums to dubious nonprofit foundations that she then used for personal gain.
Prosecutors had deemed her a flight risk and “unstable.”
Choi, daughter of a late religious figure who was a longtime mentor for Park, also faces allegations she meddled in state affairs, including the nomination of senior officials.
The scandal sparked nationwide protests calling for Park’s resignation, with prosecutors considering a formal investigation. If realized it would be the country’s first investigation of an incumbent president.
Under South Korea’s constitution, the president may not be charged with a criminal offense except insurrection or treason.
But many argue that a sitting president can be investigated and then charged after leaving office.
Justice Minister Kim Hyun-woong also told parliament yesterday that prosecutors could question Park, if the ongoing investigation required it.
The probe also targets firms — including Samsung — that offered donations to foundations favored by Choi, and a Samsung executive was yesterday questioned by prosecutors, the Yonhap news agency reported.
Samsung faces allegations that it separately offered to bankroll Choi’s daughter’s equestrian training in Germany.
The scandal has shaken the presidency, exposing Park to outrage and ridicule and, with just over a year left in office, seen her approval ratings plummet.
In an effort to deflect rising criticism, Park has been urged to create a neutral Cabinet by bringing in members from outside her ruling Saenuri Party.
She has reached across the political divide with a host of new appointments, including tapping the liberal Kim Byong-joon as her new prime minister, a largely symbolic post.
She announced her pick for chief of staff, Han Gwang-ok, a former aide to late President Kim Dae-jung, yesterday in an appointment the presidential Blue House said would help get the administration back on track.
But the opposition dismissed the reshuffle as a smokescreen and called for a full investigation into Park’s relationship with Choi.
The media has portrayed the 60-year-old Choi as a Rasputin-like figure, who wielded an unhealthy influence over Park.
Choi is the daughter of the late Choi Tae-min, who was married six times, had multiple pseudonyms and set up cult-like group the Church of Eternal Life.
He befriended a traumatized Park after the 1974 assassination of her mother — who he said had appeared to him in a dream. Park treated him as a mentor and subsequently formed a close bond with his daughter.
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