Park, Choi colluded to receive bribes from Samsung: special prosecutor

Independent Counsel Park Young-soo on Monday announced the results of the 70-day investigation of the Park Geun-hye scandal. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

By Jung Min-ho

President Park Geun-hye conspired with her friend Choi Soon-sil to receive bribes from Samsung Group, the independent counsel team stated Monday.

Its investigation outcome is expected to deal a serious political blow to President Park, who is awaiting the Constitutional Court’s decision on her impeachment.

Park Young-soo, the independent counsel who led the investigation over the last three months, said the President and Choi were a team, accusing them of closely cooperating to collect a bribe of 43 billion won ($37 million) from the company through various channels.

Bribery is the most serious criminal charge against Park, which could put her in prison for life as soon as her presidency ends.

The special prosecutor said Lee Jae-yong, the de facto leader of Samsung, colluded with top Samsung executives in giving the President and Choi kickbacks in the guise of “donations” in return for business favors.

The special prosecutor said Lee made the “donations” to take advantage of Choi’s friendship with President Park, who later pressured the National Pension Service (NPS) to vote for a merger of two Samsung units in 2015 ― a crucial decision for Lee to tighten his control on the group’s management.

By making the decision the state-run NPS lost at least 138.8 billion won of taxpayers’ money, the special prosecutor said.

According to the investigation results, the President actively helped Choi raise donations by ordering top government officials, including former presidential aide Ahn Jong-beom, to push companies to comply.

In response, Samsung denied allegations that Lee paid bribes in return for business favors.

“We disagree with the special prosecutor's findings. Samsung has not paid bribes nor made improper requests seeking favors. Future court proceedings will reveal the truth,” Samsung Group said in a statement without elaborating further.

Black and white lists

The special prosecutor said the two conspired in committing many other crimes, including creating a “blacklist” to discriminate against artists critical of the government. Along with a “whitelist,” it was used to selectively support people in cultural sector.

The President not only shared state secrets with Choi but also actively sought her advice to make important decisions, including who to appoint to high-ranking government posts and what to say during Cabinet meetings.

The special prosecutor said the two exchanged 573 phone calls to communicate with each other between April 18 and Oct. 26 last year.

Investigators also found out that Choi has hidden assets of 23 billion won at least, including the Miseung Building in southern Seoul and land across PyeongChang in Gangwon Province.

Her family members, including her former spouse and their siblings, also have properties worth at least 270 billion won.

The size of Choi family’s assets has long been a mystery and finding out the exact figure was one of the duties for special investigators. But due to the short time for the investigation, little has been revealed and many people, including Rep. An Min-suk of the Democratic Party of Korea, remain skeptical.

There have been reports that Choi’s asset alone exceeds 800 billion won, but even that figure is far less than what she really has.

The special prosecutor also admitted that what they have found so far may be only a part, saying the prosecution should look into it more.

As evidence for the allegation that the two share properties ― a fact needed to press bribery charges against the President ― the special prosecutor previously wrote at the arraignment that Lim Sun-yi, Choi’s mother, paid for the President’s house in southern Seoul. In addition, he found that Choi paid 380 million won to buy the President’s clothes and rent her a private dressing room.

Putting an end to the investigation, the special prosecutor has indicted a total of 30 people for their alleged crimes.

“Thanks to your support, we were able to find out the truth behind the scandal with passion and determination,” the special prosecutor said. “But we could not find the whole truth yet and we apologize for it.”

The case has now been handed over to the prosecution. Lee Young-ryeol, head of the Seoul Central District Prosecutors' Office, will take charge of the investigation as team leader.

The President’s lawyers denied the findings. They claim that investigators have been political and unfair in doing their work.

They also insisted the special prosecutor was “unconstitutional from the start” because the ruling party was excluded from the selection process.